


Be Spontaneous

by wickedmusicallover095



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2019-10-13 11:08:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 33,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17487008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wickedmusicallover095/pseuds/wickedmusicallover095
Summary: After the Elseworlds battle Kara decides to have a drink at the alien bar and while there she meets a Saturnian doctor named Elliot. After telling him she plans on taking a three-week hiatus he mentions a safe place for aliens like them. Venus Park is an apartment complex for aliens and their families, it's somewhere safe from the Children of Liberty. But while there Kara and the other aliens are captured and sent to a community cut off from the rest of the world to be studied.





	1. Elliot

Kara left Clark and Lois and headed back to her apartment. But at the last second she decided to head to the alien bar. While she hadn't been there in a while she wasn't surprised to see it quiet. It was normally busy but with the recent attacks by the Children of Liberty many of her alien friends had gone underground. She ordered a pint of beer and though there were plenty of empty stools she sat next to the one person sitting at the bar.

“I'm Elliot,” he said smiling at her, “I'm from Saturn.” He took a sip of his beer. He wore dark jeans and a dark green button-down shirt.

“Kara,” she said.

“So, you're not gonna tell me where you're from?”

“Its complicated,” Kara replied though it wasn't.

“You're Kryptonian,” Elliot said.

“How? How-” Kara stammered.

“I had Kryptonian neighbors growing up. They were originally just visitors but that changed. You may look human but I've learned that aliens have- certain tells. You've helped a lot of people. A lot of aliens, more than I can do.”

“And what do you do?” Kara asked.

“I'm a doctor. Have been for a long time.”

“You help others too and you probably don't inflict as much property damage.” He laughed.

“Not at the same speed, right now I'm a little more focused on research.”

“What are you researching?”

“Inter-species reproduction,” he said.

“I didn't know that- well I know of two- but-” Kara said.

“Saturn is known for- well my neighborhood at least- interspecies families. Most of my friends growing up weren't just Saturnians. ...Saturn is very different from here.”

“So is Krypton. In some aspects. In others, it's very similar. Why'd you come here?” As far as Kara knew Saturn was a fairly safe planet.

“Family tradition,” he said finishing off his beer, “On Saturn, it's common for members of society to take a gap year before college. They travel. My family has been coming to Earth for centuries. I chose to visit once I finished my degree and gained some experience in my field. I've been here for nearly a decade. Stayed a bit later than most in my family,” he said laughing.

“Ten years,” she said.

“Saturnians age differently than humans, we live for centuries, like you will should you stay in this galaxy,” he said answering Kara's unasked question. They spent the next hour discussing their lives on Earth and off. Kara told him of hour job at CatCo magazine and he mentioned his medical practice.

“Last call,” the bartender said.

“So, I take it's back to flying around the city, helping people,” he said.

“I've decided to take a short break. Just a few weeks. Until everything quiets down.” After talking it over with Clark, Kara decided to lay low and stay out of the public eye. But she hadn't told anyone, until now.

“If you need somewhere to lie low, I know of a place. You won't be judged. You'll be safe,” he said before quickly adding, “Not that you need someone to protect you.” _Be spontaneous_. After the battle months ago Kara returned with her mother to Argo for a week. And before she returned to Earth, her mother had told her, “Be spontaneous”.

Kara smiled as he stood up to pay his tab, then hers.

“Sure,” she said putting her hand in the crook of his elbow, “But I need to stop somewhere first.” When they left the bar Elliot guided Kara to his car. It was a two door Cadillac. In no time they were in front of her apartment building. Kara scribbled a note for Alex and sent an email to James. She grabbed a duffle bag shoving in clothing and her Supergirl uniform, enclosing that in a small drawstring bag that Winn had made her before he left. Only she could open it. She grabbed her soaps and a textbook her mother had given her when she visited Argo city.

“Alright I'm ready,” she said and Elliot checked his watch.

“I don't think I've ever seen anyone be ready so quickly,” he said.

“Super speed,” she said. She looked around the apartment. Three weeks and she'd be back, three weeks and she'd be Supergirl again. After an hour of sitting in Elliot's car he pulled up to an apartment complex. _**Venus Park**_ : _A Gated Community_ was printed on a sign. A quick word with security and the gates closed behind them. Elliot had told her on the drive that this complex was home to aliens and their families. The owner of the complex was human and his son fell in love and married an alien from Venus, hence the name. They had a two year old daughter with another baby on the way.

“She's healthy,” Elliot told Kara, “She's quite a chatterbox.” He pulled up to a building and got out of the car. He opened her door and she stepped out. The complex had nine buildings all with three floors. Elliot lived on the third floor of building 4 in a three bedroom apartment and like many other residents had his own private balcony. He told her there were six to twelve units per building and currently, sixty of the units were filled. About a third of those were families, some with kids as old as fifteen. He also told Kara that in the clubhouse which was two floors there were offices, one of which was his and another was a therapist office belonging to Gilina.

“I have an office in town and looking human I'm not as feared as some others. But I also have one in Venus Park for residents living here.” Elliot opened the door to his apartment and Kara stepped in. It was warm, not just temperature wise but the place was cozy. Warm brown and russet tones decorated the place.

“Laundry is to your right and to your left is my office.” He opened the door and Kara only planned to glance in but upon seeing the pieces on the walls she stepped inside. On the wall behind the desk were three posters. One was of the anatomy of an adult human male, bones and organs were all labeled. Another was of an adult female that was labeled with Venusian. Again the bones and organs were labeled but Kara knew that humans didn't share all of her organs. Instead of lungs, there were other organs in her place. Kara wasn't up quite close enough to read what they were. In between to the two pieces was a smaller diagram. It was of a toddler, female, and was a mix of the two. This was the child Elliot to me about.

“Her name is Cecilia,” he said, “Her grandfather dotes on her. She thinks he's the best person in the world.”

“So, you've been here for nearly a decade but she's only two. What else have you been doing?”

“Well, I've lived here for just under three years. Gilina and I were friends before she met Robbie. When that happened, she asked me to remain as her doctor and then Robbie brought up the idea of me moving here and being a doctor on property. I provide health care for free here in exchange for this place.”

“But what about before that?”

“I worked at a doctor's office. Mainly with kids,” he said, “And I was a night associate professor at a local college. I lived at one of my family's estates.”

“Estate?”

“Family tradition of coming here remember? We've got a handful of places across the country. I chose to settle here.” Kara looked around the rest of the room. Behind the desk was a bookshelf and one shelf was dedicated to medical books, all anatomy books. One was for humans and the others were for different alien species.

“Did you want to see the rest of the place?” he asked and Kara nodded. The apartment opened up into an open space that had the kitchen and the living room. The balcony entrance was off of the living room. The couch was a tan color and a russet-colored rug covered the wood flooring. A television sat on top of an entertainment center. Elliot continued past the living area into a small hallway. He opened the door on the left revealing a guest bedroom. The brown and red tones of the rest of the apartment were in this room as well.

“There's an attached bath and an empty dresser,” Elliot said, “I'll leave you to unpack.” Unpacking took no time and she grabbed the book, preparing to show it to Elliot. Elliot was sitting on the couch reading a book and Kara sat next to him. She showed him the book: The Anatomy of Kryptonians. He smiled as she opened it to a diagram of what her body looked like on the inside. Two spleens instead of one, only one kidney, and another organ that is purely Kryptonian.

“While I appreciate this, I do really, I didn't need a diagram to see what the anatomy of your body looks like,” he said and before Kara could ask he said, “I have x-ray vision. I see organs, bones, any appearance of cancer, fetuses.”

“My x-ray vision isn't so- technical,” Kara said. Elliot continued to flip through the pages and found a diagram of a pregnant female. Kara remembered the conversation she had had with her mother.

 

_“Have you thought about having a family?”_

_“I grew up on Earth hardly thinking about it,” Kara had said, “When I did I reminded myself that I wasn't sent to Earth to get married and have babies. I was sent to Earth to protect it.”_

_“And now?”_

_“I don't know if it's my destiny to have a family,” Kara said, “Besides, it's not like I'm staying here and there aren't any Kryptonians on Earth besides my cousin.”_

_“You don't have to be involved with a Kryptonian to have a child,” her mother said, “Daxamites, humans, Tamaraneans, Avalonians are just a few species you could have a family with. Nevertheless you should know what you'll go through if you do become pregnant.” So her mother told her. The pregnancy was short; three months on average but the labor and delivery was around five to seven days. Alura told her that many women of her generation had trouble conceiving but she thinks that many were fearful of the pain that came with delivery. One of her friends gave birth to her second child in three and a half days and other gave birth to her third in eight days. Kara didn't know a lot about human pregnancy but she knew the basics; nine months gestation and labor and delivery was maybe two days for their first child, at least this is what it was like for a friend of hers._

 

“Three months,” Elliot said, “For Saturnians, it's twenty-four months.”

“Over two years?” she asked.

“One day is under twelve hours, a month based on our moon Titan is fifteen days, a year for us is twenty-nine Earth years, three hundred and fifty-four months. We age slowly as I mentioned. I'm thirty-three- Earth wise- and have spent centuries studying medicine. So, twenty-four months isn't a lot. In Earth time, it's really only about three months longer. But the delivery is less than, only a matter of about three days- which is only around thirty some hours.”

“Converting time was one of the most difficult classes I took at school, barely passed it. I still don't have a great grasp on it. Three months for Krypton could be similar to nine months on Earth, I'd have to look at the numbers.” Elliot ran his fingers through his hair.

“But that was forever ago. For Cecilia, well her mother gave birth to her- well the delivery wasn't as long as a Kryptonian's is but it's longer than the average female human.”

“Were you her doctor then?” Kara asked.

“Yeah,” he said as Kara flipped the page again.

“Do you want something to eat?” Elliot said getting up. Kara nodded closing the book. She looked at the book he was reading. On the inside cover, there was a note written to him. Ace Garret Clarion.

“Who is Ace?” She heard Elliot laugh.

“That's my nickname. I was the first of twelve kids, first in my graduating university class, but I wasn't the first of my family to go to Earth, of my eleven siblings I was the eighth.” Kara walked up behind him to see what he was cooking. A pot of water was boiling and the chicken was seasoned and in a pan. Tomatoes and asparagus were on a cutting board waiting to be added along with heavy cream.

“I think Elliot suits you,” Kara said.

“Thanks,” he said and Kara could hear the smile in his voice. It wasn't long until the food was done and an even shorter amount of time until the plates were in the dishwasher.

 


	2. Venus Park

Kara woke up with the sun streaming through the curtains. She showered and changed into yoga pants and a sweatshirt. When she entered the living room Elliot had a pot of coffee ready and eggs hot on the stove, along with pancakes.

“I know Kryptonians have a healthy appetite,” Elliot said, he was on the couch looking at his laptop.

“#ChildrenofLiberty is trending on Twitter,” he said, “A lot of people are rallying around them.” Kara sat next to him her plate filled. She looked at the computer screen.

“I don't know how I can fight this. I don't know how to protect Earth when a lot of it's citizens want to see me hanged. Or blown up.”

“Are they attacking humans?” he asked, “Or just aliens?”

“Right now it's just aliens but I wouldn't be surprised if they went after humans who stood up for aliens.” Kara was quiet as she continued eating. Elliot switched to articles about medical advances then to his email. He was able to stay in contact with his family on Saturn. She wished she could stay in contact with her mother. Since she couldn't she told her mom she'd visit every six months, sometimes more often.

“Why have you stayed on Earth so long?” Kara asked, “Why not go home?”

“I've gotten comfortable here. I've thought about returning home a few years ago but when I heard about Gilinia and the baby I knew I had to stay. I decided to study interspecies reproduction. Yeah, on Saturn I could study it but most interspecies relations are between Saturnians and other aliens like Venusians, Plutonians, Kryptonians along with others.”

“Kryptonians, you can reproduce with Kryptonians?” Kara asked.

“My neighbors, one of their kids married a Saturnian, Kheliya was her name.” He seemed to be missing the point. But then Kara remembered he had mentioned that his neighbors were Kryptonian yesterday.

“Why did you stay? I heard from a friend that there's still a pocket of Krypton that exists.”

“It was hard going back. Different. I mean it would have been my life had I grown up there- husband and kids. Who knows what job I'd have. I'd have a normal life.”

“And you can't have that here?”

“Flying around in a cape isn't normal. I don't think I could even try to be normal. It's already difficult at times as human Kara.” Elliot didn't say anything to this. Kara heard the clock tick by as she sat next to Elliot. The full weight of the past few weeks seemed to catch up with the hero. She leaned against Elliot closing her eyes. She felt Elliot's arm around her.

What if she failed to protect Earth? How many people would die? How many aliens would die? How many had already died because of these Agents of Liberty? And if she kept trying to fight them would the government, the President, come after her? It would be a good idea to stay in hiding, stay with Elliot and these other aliens for a while.

Kara opened her eyes several hours later. She was lying on top of Elliot, who like her had fallen asleep. His arms were wrapped around her and she slipped out of them. It was noon and she was hungry. She cleaned up the dishes from breakfast and brewed a new pot of coffee. She made rice and peppers with some ground turkey. She plated the food and nudged Elliot awake. He sat up.

“Thanks.” He grabbed the plate and walked over to the island counter sitting on one of the stools. She sat next to him and ate her food. She didn't say anything about earlier.

Everything felt awkward. She didn't know how to feel. Didn't know how she was supposed to feel. Her mom had told her to be spontaneous but Kara had a feeling this wasn't what she meant. She hardly knew this guy. Why had she gone with him to his apartment? What did her taking comfort in his embrace mean? The two ate their meal in silence and continued about the rest of their day. Elliot went to his office while Kara went to sit by the pool. There were only a couple of others enjoying the pool, aliens just like her.

Dinner was pizza and then a movie on cable. The following day was just as quiet until late afternoon. They spent it playing card games and talking about their lives on Earth. Kara told Elliot of her sister and what it was like working as a reporter. Elliot could only say so much about his patients so he told her about his siblings. Large families were common on Saturn. Kara thought about what her life would be like had she stayed on Krypton. Had she grown up there or moved there a few months ago.

She could be like her friends and be married with a family. She could be a police officer or a journalist or a judge. After the card game was over Elliot flipped through the Kryptonian Anatomy book while Kara read one of the books he had. It was a mystery novel. She heard him occasionally write notes down in a paper filled binder. He was careful not to damage any of the pages though she wouldn't have minded. She hadn't had a lot of time to flip through the book, nor could she really understand it, not like he could. She knew that in many ways her body was similar to a human's and she had heard her sister studying for her high school anatomy class growing up. And she knew enough from biology to get by and if she couldn't she now had Elliot.

Kara looked at Elliot. He was scribbling down notes in a notebook. It was in his native tongue so Kara couldn't read it. The anatomy book had been transcribed in English so doctors on Earth could read it, Kara's mother told her. Had she stayed on Krypton she would have learned Saturnian along with at least a dozen other languages from planets in multiple galaxies. On Earth she hardly used Kryptonian but through her travels as Supergirl she had learned four or five languages. Elliot was looking at the diagram of a Kryptonian's body now and was sketching it out on a sheet of paper. The sketch was rough but Kara could see the details he was making sure to get correct. She kept trying to finish her book but continuously looked over at his note taking and every so often he would look over at her. By dinner time he had filled up two whole notebooks and he was maybe a quarter of a way through the book.

“What did you want for dinner?” he asked closing the textbook.

“Chinese is always a favorite of mine,” Kara replied.

“Mine too. There's this great Chinese place nearby,” he said pulling out his phone. He asked Kara what she wanted but then quickly said he'd order the whole menu. Kara smiled at this. She wasn't annoyed, rarely did she ever order the whole menu, despite wanting to. Her wallet couldn't take it.

An hour later the cartons were empty and Elliot and Kara were playing a board game; Monopoly and she was winning. This Monopoly was different. While it was a Night Sky edition some of the planets had been changed to ones not in this galaxy. Krypton was one of them. She looked at the artist rendering and remembered the last time she truly saw her planet, moments before it was blown to pieces.

“My neighbors talked about home a lot,” Elliot said, “When they heard the news of what happened they didn't leave their house for a long time. But the neighborhood took care of them.”

“You said they had a kid who married a Saturnian?” Kara asked.

“Yeah, a son. When I left they were expecting I think their third child. I think they planned on a having a large family. Do Kryptonians have large families?”

“When I was a kid no. Mostly one or two kids if that. My class sizes were small. But when I visited recently most families my mother told me had an average of five or six. If they want to keep their population thriving it makes sense. But my mom thinks one of the reasons the population was low was because women were scared of the delivery process.”

“What do you think?” he asked.

“My planet was dying and I think it affected women. My aunt could never conceive and my cousin was a gift from Rao. You said you had eleven siblings?”

“Yeah, the youngest is finishing up secondary school. Five of my siblings are already married with kids and another has a kid on the way. When Felix told our parents he got his girlfriend pregnant... it didn't go down well.”

“It wouldn't on Krypton either. Our societies might be more advanced than Earth but we are still behind in some.”

“Felix is expected to marry her- before the baby comes.”

“And how long do they have?”

“Well, when they told the family she was already eight months along and that was around four months ago. They have twelve months- or six months Earth time- to get married. They decided to go small but again families are big on Saturn. She has fourteen siblings, and she's the youngest so nearly everyone is married and has a family. Felix emailed me and said they were just going to elope. They want kids but they don't want to expected amount -they don't want that many kids at their wedding. It's why they are eloping.” Kara felt the curiosity to ask whether he wanted a large family but didn't.

“How big were your classes growing up? Your home?” she asked.

“Bunkbeds are the popular beds of choice. And my class sizes were maybe forty students, with a teacher and an assistant. One of my sisters went into teaching. A brother of mine owns a daycare center- sort of. Anyway, there aren't a lot of stay at home parents so there are after school activities and babysitters.”

“What do your other siblings do?” Kara asked. He already knew what Alex did- to an extent.

“Felix works at a bank, Holly is an architect, Walter is a traveling journalist – he's seen parts of Saturn that I've only seen on a map- Jennie is dance teacher, Mick is a news anchor,” Elliot paused counting on his fingers.

“It's okay, you don't have to continue,” Kara laughed. Elliot smiled. Their game of monopoly was long forgotten.

“What would you do if you weren't a journalist?” he asked her.

“If I was on Krypton?”

“Or here,” he said. He knew what ifs were a touchy subject with any refugee.

“When I was in high school I wanted to be a scuba diver. I wanted to study marine life.”

“What happened?”

“You're checked out by doctors before going underwater. Couldn't blow my cover. I'm not supposed to attract attention.”

“Clearly that's worked out well for you.”

“The plane that I saved. It had my sister on it. She was less than pleased with me.”

“She was worried about you,” he said, “Duke, my brother who is the second oldest, is in our military. Very protective. He doesn't think Georgie, the youngest, should travel to Earth. Doesn't think he's emotionally ready. He forgets that he was sent to military school in the first place when he was younger than Georgie.”

“What'd he do?”

“It wasn't really a punishment. The school matured him though. He wasn't doing well at our school. He wasn't doing anything wrong, just wasn't thriving.”

“Military school is- was... punishment on Krypton. What does Georgie want to do?”

“He wants to go into public administration- like our dad.”

“What does your mom do?”

“She's a leader in our religion. Preaches at our place of worship.”

“My mom's a judge- or was, she's a leader in the community now and my dad was a scientist.”

“And what would you do? If you weren't a doctor?”

“I'd teach. University,” Elliot said.

“And the subject?”

“Passage of time on other planets,” he said and they both started to laugh.

“Does your university and your human patients know?”

“The university I'm at knows. The students know as well. Most are younger than you. They don't seem to care. 'I don't drone on' a student said and apparently that makes me worth keeping. My patients know as well. I think knowing I'm from a planet they grew up knowing existed is comforting in some way. But once these agents of liberty surfaced I only kept a few patients. I stopped taking new ones and returned to research. Do your coworkers know?”

“Just one, James Olsen. He's known since day one. But the others don't.”

“Even Cat Grant?”

“She suspects but I don't think she knows.”

“What do you think would happen? If you revealed your identity that is?”

“They'd go after the people I care about. My sister, James, Lena, Cat, Eliza who is my foster mom. Someone needs to help keep this planet safe. I can't protect them and everyone else. And my cousin is leaving.” Kara tensed and her eyes widened realizing what she had just said. Elliot gave her a small smile.

“I won't tell the tabloids.”

“Thanks.” Kara relaxed and looked at the board game which they stopped playing. She picked up her piece, a silver House of El crest. It was originally a charm, one would put on a bracelet. She had seen one at the local department store. Elliot had chosen a piece from the game: a space station. Monopoly was one of the first board games she was taught to play. The Danvers had a family game and movie night once a week. In that moment Kara pictured playing board games with her family. She quickly pushed the image away. That future wasn't going to exist. It couldn't exist. It's what she had told herself for the past decade.

“Do you want to go get some ice cream?” Elliot asked interrupting her thoughts.

Kara had yet to visit the clubhouse and inside was a cafe that served breakfast, lunch and dinner and they served sundaes and cones. There was also a small grocery store in the clubhouse, which had some fresh produce but mainly sold canned goods. Along with the cafe, store, and the few offices there was also a small media center where residents could check out books, movies, play video games, or use a computer. Near the media center was a small classroom and a daycare center.

Some of the residents hadn't left the complex since the attacks had started. That's why the classroom and daycare center was added. Kara wished it wasn't needed. She wished these aliens didn't fear humans to the point that they separated their children. How long would it be until aliens were segregated into places like this?

“On Saturn is there any- is it similar on Earth? You said your neighborhood had interspecies families. Is there- are there people who are unhappy with them?”

“There are small groups of people who aren't a fan of refugees. But they're not heard from often. Our leaders don't give them the attention they desire and they refuse the media to.”

“Saturn doesn't have freedom of press?” Kara asked.

“No, like you said our societies are more advanced in some ways and not in others. But if the press were able to publish articles about them I'm worried that those groups would cause harm the others.” Kara didn't reply to this. She returned to eat her sundae which had partially melted. It was wrong. People should be able to publish what they wanted. But then she thought about Benjamin Lockwood. Had he not helped spearhead his group would this had been avoided? Had he not been allowed to speak would this have been prevented? They finished their ice cream in silence and slowly walked through the complex.

 


	3. Erie Syndicate

Children were out enjoying time of the playground. Kara stopped to look at them. She thought of a playground she had gone to recently and had to stop parents from preventing alien children from playing. She saw parents, some were interspecies couples others were from the same planet.

“Do you want children?” The words slipped out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

“Someday,” Elliot said, “If I were to stay here I don't think I'd want the Saturnian usual dozen.”

“You aren't going to return to Saturn then? At all?”

“One day I'm sure I will unless I were to marry someone here on Earth,” he said. Kara didn't know how to respond to this. Her and Elliot were friends. Spending several days together with a stranger sometimes made you each other friends. But she wasn't sure if they could be more than that. She hadn't thought of dating. Before Mon-El she didn't think she'd ever get to be in an honest relationship then he left... twice. Now though, now she wasn't sure. It had taken her a while to warm up to Mon-El, Elliot she only knew a few days. But she was essentially vacationing at his apartment and had fallen asleep in his arms. She wasn't that kind of person. If Eliza knew... if her mother knew where she was. If she knew she had slept with someone- no she probably knew. It was most likely a reason she gave her a pregnancy talk.

But she had told her to be spontaneous. To live a little. This was hiding though, not living. While she didn't mind this community, in fact, she felt safe here... she knew it wasn't for her. Her place was with other humans and she couldn't protect them from here. The people here were protected. But the others, in the homes that were marked by the children of liberty, weren't. And she was sitting here watching kids sitting next to a guy she hardly knew- but felt like she knew for a long time. But Clark was protecting people while she took these few weeks off. He was leaving in a month so he told Kara to take the time since she'd the sole Kryptonian protecting Earth soon. After he left she wouldn't get to take time off.

“Hey Elliot,” a woman said. Kara snapped out of her thoughts.

“Hey, Hailey,” he said, “This is Kara.” Kara stood up and shook the woman's hand. She was human and young- maybe nineteen. She must live with an alien.

“How do you like it here?” she asked.

“It's nice. Quiet,” Kara replied.

“You're from the city aren't you?”

“How could you tell?”

“You used the word quiet. You'll get used to it. It's louder in the summer when all the kids are here. And on the weekends too. I grew up in Gotham. I moved here after getting engaged to Jatt. He's from Astonia and was here on a missionary trip. Anyway, it was nice meeting you Kara!” she was chipper like Kara had been when she first started being Supergirl. Now she was tired and she'd only been Supergirl for a few years. Clark had been Superman for over two decades.

“Ready to head back?” Elliot asked standing up. Kara nodded and they walked back to his apartment. Going into the building they passed a few other tenants. One was a family, two kids trailed behind the parents. One was older maybe eleven or twelve. He wasn't in a great mood. His skin was green and one of his fathers' was telling him to use his image manipulator. He was mumbling about wanting to go back to his old school. His other father told him he knew why they couldn't go back. His younger sister mentioned she liked the pool here.

“They just moved in a couple of weeks ago. They had a scare about a month ago. And they were in a small town- it was close-minded and parents didn't like their kids going to school with someone who wasn't human,” Elliot told me when he closed the door behind us in the apartment.

“If I had been outed as an alien my foster family would have had to move. I was already the weird girl at school. I saved a mother and her baby the first week I was here and was told I couldn't do anything like that again.”

“That stuck,” he said, “Well I have some work to do before tomorrow. I'll see you in the morning.”

“Good night,” she said. Kara sat in her room and used her superhearing to listen to her sister.

 

_“You told her to take a few weeks off?” Alex said._

_“I'm leaving Alex. Kara won't get time off once I'm gone,” Clark said. They were on the phone or maybe she was talking to him in person._

_“Clark, I don't know where she is. She left a letter and emailed James.”_

_“Alex, it's Kara. Besides she's an adult. She can go-”_

_“She's never done this before. Kara doesn't just take off without notice. Something could have happened to her.”_

_“Is the note in her handwriting? And James said she's on a story right?”_

_“Yes but-”_

_“Alex- you'll see her in a few weeks. She has a good reason for being radio silent. I know about what happened with the president. You can trust her to be safe.”_

_“Can you just try to get in contact with her? She left her phone and her computer at her place.”_

_“If she doesn't want to be found she's not going to be.”_

_“Clark! Please.”_

_“I'll listen for her but that's it. Kara should get to be a private person once in a while.”_

_“Thank you.” Kara heard the dial tone._

 

Her letter to Alex hadn't been that long but she didn't have the time. Maybe she should call her. She knocked on the door to Elliot's office.

“What's up?” He asked when she entered.

“Mind if I borrow your phone. My sister is kind of freaking out.”

“Sure,” he said tossing her his unlocked phone. She dialed her sister's number and Alex picked up.

“Who is this?”

“It's Kara.”

“Kara! What the hell!”

“I'm fine. I'm with a friend. I'm safe.”

“You can't just pick up and leave.”

“I was being spontaneous. Besides Supergirl needs to lay low too and you know that. I decided to take a few weeks vacation.”

“Where are you? Who are you with? I can come get you. We can spend some time here; in National City. Or you can go to Argo City,” Alex said.

“No, Alex. I'm with a friend. I'm fine. I'll see you in a few weeks, okay?” Kara hung up the phone. She'd be dealing with a pissed off sister in a few weeks but she'd deal with it then.

“Thanks,” Kara said returning the phone to Elliot.

“Sister isn't pleased you're here?”

“She's overprotective, that's all, she might try calling back but you can just ignore her,” Kara said. She looked into his office, the Kryptonian anatomy book was on his desk but it wasn't open.

“Have you traveled alone before?” he asked. The question caught her off guard.

“Just a few times. Alex wasn't thrilled with it. But communication can't get in or out of Argo.”

“Argo? That's what's left of Krypton right?”

“Yeah. I'll let you get back to work.”

“Did you want to see what I'm working on?”

“Can you show me?”

“You won't put it on the cover of CatCo Magazine right?” He smiled and Kara laughed walking over to his desk. He had a spreadsheet in front of him. Planets were listed at the top and along the side. X's were used to mark overlap.

“Are these aliens on Earth that have had interspecies relations?” Kara asked.

“Ones that have reproduced, all of them live here but I've been trying to find others.” Kara looked at the planets. Krypton was listed, it overlapped with human.

“I know Lois,” he said, “Well sort of it's through a mutual friend. I suggested when she should leave.” Krypton also overlapped with Saturn, Pluto, and Avalon these spots were marked with a green X rather than black. Kara remembered the conversation she had with her mother again.

“I'll let you get back to your work,” Kara said again turning away from Elliot. She was in the main room when Elliot caught up with her. She turned around.

“What is-” but she was cut off when he placed his lips on top of hers. She barely had time to react and he pulled away but he was still inches from Kara who had grabbed a hold of his arms. She was still holding onto him.

“I-” she said, “I can't give you what you want. I'm not-”

“I want you,” he said, “Right now. In this moment. I want you.” He kissed her again this time grabbing her waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck. Kara nor Elliot had any time to react as the front door flew off it's hinges. The two crashed to the floor. She looked up and saw three men in suits. They had guns. Kara shielded Elliot. She turned around and used her freeze breath. She created a wall of ice and grabbed Elliot.

“The balcony. We need to get outside,” she said. They stepped out onto the balcony and Elliot closed the door. It only shattered behind them as both of them were pushed off the balcony. Kara grabbed Elliot before he landed on the pavement. There were other suited men and they were carting off aliens. CADMUS. No. Children of Liberty. No. They wouldn't bother carting them off.

“Robbie!” a woman cried. She was pregnant.

“Stop!” the man Kara assumed was Robbie called. Kara flew after the men attacking Gilina only to stop short. He let go of the woman holding out a green rock. Kryptonite.

“Hey!” It was Elliot. Before he could help her she heard him grunt then saw him fall to the ground.

“Kal-El,” Kara called trying to make her voice clear and loud. She used her heat vision hitting the green rock then flew up away from the man and spotted Cecilia being torn away from Gilina. She knocked away her captor and the girl ran to her mother. Kara heard the crack of a whip and it looped around her wrist. She pulled the man down and he fell with a thud.Then she fell to her knees and cried out in pain. Someone was pressing a chunk of Kryptonite into her shoulder.

“Kal-El!”

“Kal-El, help!” She struggled to stand to look her attackers in the eyes but she fell back down to her knees.

“Don't worry Supergirl, this is for your own good,” one of the men said.

“No! Get away from me!” She tore from the man's grasp knocking the kryptonite away from him. But before she could get any further she felt a pinprick of a needle and she screamed.

 

Clark heard his cousin. He stopped mid-sentence.

“Clark, what is it?” Lois asked.

“Kara,” he said before he flew out the window. He listed for Kara, localizing her heartbeat.

“Kal-El!” he heard. He knew from Alex she wasn't in National City. She had called him the second she got off the phone with Kara.

“Kal-El, help!” he heard again. Her heartbeat quickened.

“No! Get away from me!” He heard her scream. Then her heartbeat slowed almost to a stop. Clark flew around for another few minutes. He landed in the middle of an apartment complex. He heard a child crying.

“This place was supposed to be safe!” a man yelled.

“Robert, we'll find them. We'll go to the media,” an older man said.

“Superman,” Robert said.

“What happened here?” he asked. But neither of the men said anything. The child's wailing became louder.

“They took them. They took all of them,” the old man said. Kara was here. She had tried to help these people. Clark knelt down to look at the child. She wasn't human- at least not completely. This was an apartment complex for aliens- and humans and their children.

“They took the aliens,” Clark said. They took Kara.

“Where?”

“We don't know,” the old man said.

 

Kara woke up in a chair and there were kryptonite restraints around her wrists and ankles. She remembered the last time she was in a similar situation. Elliot. She looked around. She was alone. Her head was throbbing. She pulled at the restraints as if it was going to accomplish something. The door to the room opened and a man and a woman entered.

“Hi Kara,” the woman said.

“We're with the Erie Syndicate,” the man said, “And you've been placed under our protection.”

“You call this protection?” Kara spat.

“From the Agents of Liberty,” the woman said, “It's dangerous out there for aliens like you.”

“I don't need protection,” Kara said, “I can protect myself.”

“We know what happened on the island. And with Reign. And CADMUS. It's very dangerous out there and if the infamous Supergirl can't protect herself who can?” the man asked.

“As you can see I survived all of those instances,” Kara said, “What'd you do with Elliot?”

“Your boyfriend?” the woman asked, “Oh he's safe. He's already joined the others in the community.”

“The community?” Kara asked.

“Yes, you'll be going there soon. If you cooperate,” the man said.

“That's not going to happen,” Kara said. Then she screamed. Electricity coursed through her body.

“I told you she wouldn't cooperate Tricia,” the man said. Kara looked at the pair.

“I won't be going to your community,” Kara said, “No matter what you do to me.” She was shocked again.

 

“Easy,” Elliot said helping Kara sit up.

“Where am I?”

“You're safe,” he said. Kara looked around. She was in a bedroom. A really nice one.

“What? No, I was with Tricia and Nick. They wanted me to go to their community. Alex. They said they were going to hurt Alex if I didn't... they showed video of her.”

“Kara. Relax, you're here. You're in their community,” Elliot said, “It's been a few weeks since they took us. I did put up a fight but when I heard they separated Robbie and Gilina... I used that as leverage.”

“You could have used that to escape!”

“And left her without someone to help when the baby comes? I'm the only one here with medical expertise.”

“How many others are here?”

“Nearly everyone from the complex along with a handful of others from other places in the US.”

“And they all agreed to their terms?”

“For a lot of people, their offer wasn't a bad thing. They fear the Children of Liberty. I think it's been a while since they've really felt safe Kara. They went from one bad situation on their home planet to another. I still don't think they came willingly though.”

“But it's not safe here,” Kara said, “Where is here?”

“No one is really sure. But we're in some kind of dome or something. And the sun is blocked out. I have my x-ray vision but I doubt you have any of your powers. I've been here nineteen days. As long as we follow the rules we are safe.”

“You're kidding, right? We're being held against our will. How can you feel safe here?”

“Because I've been in situations like this. Saturn isn't perfect. I've been in camps before, I've been held captive. While it's not ideal it could be worse. No one is going hungry, or being tortured, or left in unhealthy living conditions. Look at this place.” The room was big, and there were doors that lead to an ensuite bathroom and a large walk in closet. The bed Kara was sitting on was larger than the one she had in her apartment.

“Come on, I'll show you the rest of the place.” He gently pulled Kara off the bed but she wasn't going anywhere.

“It's a two bedroom with a study, for you. And their _terms_. We don't need to follow them. Like I said I've been in situations similar and we'll get out of here... or they'll let us go.”

“But what about the people of Earth who need protecting? That's my job.”

“They were okay before you or your cousin came. And I have a feeling the other aliens are being put in other places like this.”

“But that's not their choice to make.”

“No, it's not. But there isn't anything we can do from in here. Not now. Look if we're lucky everything will go back to normal in a month or so. We can go back to our lives. You can go back to being Supergirl.”

“How can you be so calm about this?”

“I wasn't- not at first. And there are others who still aren't. But someone needs to remain calm and being a doctor it's expected to be me. Gilina had her baby. It was a boy. Had I not been here- the birth wasn't easy and it's different cause she's not human.”

“She doesn't have a similar delivery to humans?”

“No. There are another half dozen couples that are expecting. And more to come, I'm sure.”

“Elliot they want to treat us like some research project. A price for our safety they said.”

“All they're going to find is that we're similar to humans,” he said, “They might find us boring.”

“And if they don't?”

“We'll figure something out. I'll make us some breakfast. Why don't you take a shower?” He asked. He squeezed her shoulder before leaving the room.

 


	4. The Community

Kara left the shower and searched through the dresser in the room. She pulled out a pair of jeans and found a blouse in the closet. Everything was her size. The fact that they knew her size creeped her out. She walked into the kitchen. The main area had an open living concept. There was a dining table behind the living room. A tv was on the wall in front of a couch. The kitchen was all white. Elliot was plating food, eggs and bacon with some toast. He pulled out a chair for Kara and she sat down. She ate her food as Elliot told her his schedule for the day. He'd be leaving in an hour and would come find her around noon for lunch. Then at dinner he'd show her the list of rules they had to follow. He showed Kara a map of the community. He circled their house and then said their offices were in the same building. There was one office building near the center of town. Restaurants flanked each side of the building. A cross from them were two shops. One was for groceries and the other was a craft store. Clothing wasn't often delivered but fabric was. Behind the homes Kara and Elliot resided in were woods and on the other side of the dome were farms. There was a schoolhouse too along with a recreation center and a library. There was even a town hall building. Most of the map was filled with houses though. Only a small portion were filled according to Elliot, there were larger ones for families and smaller ones, like the one they were in.

This was something Erie Syndicate had been working on for years, maybe even before Kara had arrived on Earth. Or maybe this community was originally meant for something else. She couldn't figure out how water and electricity was included in this place.

“We'll get through this,” Elliot said, “And you'll get used to it here. Did they say what your job was going to be?”

“I'm supposed to write a memoir... gather all the citizens information and write about them. They said they had a handful of journalists already- one's mainly a photographer. And another is more of an editor.”

“Jason and Felicity,” he said, “they lived in the complex. They're nice, you'll like them.”

“Do you know everyone here?” Kara asked.

“One of the first jobs I had was have everyone come in for a physical.”

“How many people are here?”

“Close to two hundred now. Most are from _Venus Park_ but about twenty five aliens are from elsewhere in California.” And they were planning for more to fill the space. He grabbed his jacket then one for Kara before they left the house.

When Kara stepped outside she was surprised how bright it was. The light felt similar to that of the sun but there were no benefits. Kara felt a breeze in the air and pulled her jacket tighter around her. When she visited the Fortress she never had to worry about the cold bothering her. Elliot grabbed her hand. Part of her wanted to yank her hand out of his. But another part welcomed the comfort. Kara saw other couples, if thats what you could call them, heading the same direction they were. There were also families. She saw the one that lived in the same building as Elliot. The boy was quiet now, he didn't look angry- he looked scared. This is what the organization did. How could Elliot be comfortable here?

“Dr. Elliot!” one of the fathers said. The family came up to them.

“You must be Kara,” the other father said, “I'm Dan. This is my husband Will. And these two are Jackson and Peter.” Kara shook Dan's hand.

“We were wondering when you'd be arriving. I'm one of the teachers at the school. Will works at the grocery store. We're glad you're here.” And with that they were gone.

“They were here before I was,” Elliot said, “A lot of the families were.” The pair entered the office building. It was only six stories high and Kara learned her office was on the top floor. Elliot's was on the second floor. Kara wondered how with all these people here they could only have one doctor. Kara left Elliot and took the elevator up to the sixth floor. There were three people in the office and they all quickly introduced themselves. Jason and Felicity were both from Avalonia whereas Trice was from Pluto. She noticed that Trice had a healing gash across his cheek and Felicity had a fading black eye.

“We've already done a lot of research,” Felicity said. Jason pulled over a whiteboard that was on wheels. Names were listed. In green were the names of children. There were at least three dozen names.

“Where's the bathroom?” Kara asked and Felicity showed her. Kara entered a stall and emptied her stomach. Felicity was standing by the sinks.

“All those kids. It's awful. It's so awful,” Kara said as she started to rinse her mouth out.

“Their parents are just trying to make this all normal. Come on, let's go see Elliot. He's our residential doctor.”

“I'm fine. We don't need to bother him.”

“It's the rules,” Felicity said, “If we don't follow them...” She trailed off. Kara was curious as to what happened. She remembered her treatment. She could go through it again. But then she remembered Alex.

“Is that how you got your black eye? And Trice his cut?” Felicity nodded. Kara then asked about these rules. Elliot had mentioned them.

“Who were you paired up with?” she asked, “I was paired up with Trice. He's nice but- we've been alternating between the bed and the couch since being here.”

“Elliot. How long have you been here?”

“Six days, Trice has been here eight days. On average it takes two weeks for people to get used to it here. We'll see.” They stopped in front of a door. Dr. Elliot Clarion, M.D. was etched on the glass panel. Felicity walked up to the receptionist's desk and spoke softly to the receptionist as Kara sat down. She didn't hear what she said. She missed her super hearing. Just as Felicity left the office the other door opened. In that moment Kara saw a panicked look on Elliot's face but it disappeared when he saw she was okay.

“There were so many kids,” Kara said sitting on the exam table a few minutes later, “How could they? What if they kill them when they step out of line? I saw what they did to Trice and Felicity.”

“They're not going to kill anyone. They needed me for this place to work like they wanted. Gilina wasn't the only thing I used as a term. They're not going to kill any of us. And we get newspapers of what's going on in the real world once a week. They even brought all of my books.”

“But that doesn't- what they're doing isn't okay.”

“I know. They shouldn't have captured us and put us here. And plenty of others are trying to escape. They're looking for a weak spot. No one's been successful. And if you try... you're still healing from everything else they've done to you. You didn't get here this morning or last night. You've been here for three days. They wouldn't kill you but you don't have your powers. I don't know what else your body can take.”

“I can take it. We have to try to get out of here.”

“Kara, we aren't getting out of here. Not now. We're waiting. I'm sure your sister and cousin are looking for you.”

“I've never been the most patient person,” Kara said.

“There's a meeting tonight. We'll head over after dinner. Drink this,” he handed Kara a glass of water. He had mixed a tablet in it. It tasted gross but she drank it. She went back to her office.

Felicity and Trice and Jason explained all the research they had gathered so far. Trice had done a decent amount but people weren't really forthcoming with information. He had the origin of the person along with their job here. Kara said she'd do the research if he'd combine everything in a document. They had access to computers but there was no internet connection. Kara looked at all the names listed again then at the map that Trice had given her. Nearly seventy people were in this office building. Instead of going to speak with any of them Kara stayed in the office. She was in charge of writing a memoir and that's what she was going to do.

 

_In the winter of 2018 nearly two hundred aliens were taken from their homes by the Erie Syndicate. They weren't sent back home like the Agents of Liberty wanted. Instead they were sent to a colony known as The Community. These aliens were told it was for their safety and in return the Erie Syndicate wanted to study them. The aliens were paired into couples and placed in homes, given jobs to help The Community running. Two hundred was their starting number and they had more room to fill. These couples were expected to reproduce and Erie Syndicate wanted_

 

Kara stopped typing. She wasn't really sure what the members of Erie Syndicate wanted. Kara closed the laptop. She was going to find out. The quickest way was to get in contact with them. And she knew exactly how to do that.

“Where are you going?” Jason asked.

“Research.” Kara walked out of the building and back to the houses. She entered the woods and kept walking. She tripped over tree roots trying to get to the edge. Then she saw it. The barrier was in front of her. It was solid and trees were painted on it. The sky she assumed was the same. She hit the barrier and was thrown back. It had sent out a pulse of energy and Kara struggled to stand.

“You won't stop me that easily,” she said. She walked along the barrier searching for a crack or a hole, anything she could use to get outside. Multiple times she brushed her hand against it only to be thrown back. Eventually she was out of the woods. She kept walking around the border. There had to be something, there had to be a way to escape. She was stopped by a man. He wore a guard uniform.

“Ma'am you can't be here,” he said, “We're supposed to stay away from the border.” Kara looked at him. He looked human but she couldn't be sure. She looked human as did Elliot. But he said “We”. She saw the name on his badge Gregory. He was an alien.

“You have to know of it's weak spots,” Kara said.

“There are no weak spots ma'am,” he said.

“Everything has weak spots,” Kara replied, “Besides, aren't you curious?”

“No, ma'am. My job here is to help protect the others,” he said.

“So, in all your walks you haven't once found a weak spot?”

“They're listening ma'am,” he said.

“Who is listening?”

“Ma'am, you'll have to go back to work now.” He grabbed her arm turning her back towards the town- if you could call it that. She turned to look at him as she started walking. She returned to the office. Felicity and Jason were gone.

“How was your research?” Trice asked.

“Uneventful,” she replied. Kara opened her computer and stared at the paragraph she had written. She still didn't know what they wanted. Did they want to study the children? Elliot was making sure they were healthy but surely these people wanted more. What if they wanted to take the children? Kara closed her laptop when someone entered.

“Hey, you want to head to lunch?” Elliot asked. Kara was quiet during lunch.

“You went to the border didn't you?” he asked as Kara picked at her food.

“There was someone there. Gregory.”

“He arrived not long after I did. There are five other guards posted around the border.”

“I don't understand. What do they want?”

“They're here to keep us in line... protect us from them.”

“No! Not them. Erie Syndicate.”

“To study us. That's what they told me.”

“But why? Why do they want to study us?”

“That I don't know.” Kara pushed her food away. She wasn't going to give up so easily. And she wasn't going to give them what they wanted. She wouldn't cooperate. So when Elliot returned to the office building she didn't go with him. She went back to the border. After knocking out one of the guards she went up to the wall. It wasn't a weak spot but she went after it anyway. She had no super strength to break through it. That didn't stop her. She kept trying and after a while the pain became too much. Her world faded away.

Kara didn't wake up to Tricia and Nick like she thought she would. She was back in the house. Elliot wasn't in the room this time. She got out of the bed. She was in a pajamas again and she felt sore. She walked into the main living area and Elliot was sitting on the couch watching a movie. He looked at her when she entered.

“They give you a pass the first time,” he said, “Then they take you to their facility. You're returned usually bruised or in need of stitches. Sometimes worse.” Kara sat down next to him and he brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

“You made quite an impression on Stoic. He isn't angry just surprised. And he isn't hurt. He'll be going back to work tomorrow.”

“There has to be a weak spot. A way out.”

“There isn't. Not from this side. That wall isn't some thin piece of metal.”

“How isn't it noticed from the outside?”

“Cloaking. Some think we're in some woods in the northwest. The dome just looks like another patch of trees from top and all it's sides.”

“So who knows when we'll be found.”

“We wait,” he said, “I told you there were rules. You should know them.” There was the rule Felicity mentioned. If you got sick, in any manner for any reason you were to see Elliot. There was a curfew: 10 pm. There were the traditional laws- no attacking others or murder, no burglary, etc but there were laws that weren't so traditional such as after six you had to remain with your partner, and pregnancy tests were taken every three weeks since your arrival. They were always listening and after a third attempt at escape or planning on an escape resulted in severe punishment. According to Elliot no one had broken that rule yet.

“So, this baby thing. They really expect people to comply?”

“About a dozen couples already have,” he said, “Compliance is rewarded.” That's what they repeated when they were torturing her. Clearly he heard it too.

“And if it's not?”

“They don't have anyway to prove we're not trying,” he replied, “You said your mom told you women were supposedly having trouble conceiving. That's what we tell them. They're not listening in this house or in any of the others. They won't know.”

“Do you want to watch this movie with me?” Kara nodded but didn't really pay attention to what was on the screen. She kept thinking about Alex and Clark. Had he heard her? Had her cousin been listening? Were either of them looking right now? The movie eventually ended.

“I can sleep on the couch,” Elliot said.

“No. We can share a bed. It's plenty big enough for the both of us. I'm just going to shower first.” Kara entered the bedroom in fresh pajamas and joined Elliot in the bed. Had they kept kissing the other night they could have ended up in a bed, Kara thought. She didn't picture this when she decided to take time off.

 


	5. Two Weeks Later

“We cannot use DEO resources to find your sister Alex,” Colonel Haley said.

“It's been over a month,” Alex said, “Something could have happened to her.”

“Didn't she email her boss saying she was on assignment? She's a journalist. She's chasing a story and if she's anything like Lois Lane-”

“She's not. She's shy and she could be in danger,” Alex said.

“You filed a missing person report. It's in their hands now. We have people who are here now to protect. And if you can't focus you should leave,” the colonel replied. Clark was looking for his cousin and he had heard her cry for help but hadn't told Alex. He hadn't told her about the complex and the people that took her sister. He knew she'd want to use DEO resources and he knew what the president wanted. Lois was looking as well and was following up on the phone call Kara had made. She was turned away from the complex multiple times but had stayed nearby. Clark had told Lois about the complex. She managed to sneak in once and she didn't know which building she was in and was escorted out. She had tried to say she was looking for her cousin but nothing worked. They refused to say anything.

 

Kara woke up wrapped in Elliot's arms. Two weeks had passed since her arrival in the colony, this is what they had called the place instead of The Community. And like Elliot had said she had accepted her fate here- for now. She was still waiting for her cousin or Alex to find her. To find all of them. She had gotten to know the people of the colony more. For the past week, she had spent time in the classrooms. There were four; one for under five another for six to ten, a third for eleven to fourteen and the final for fifteen to eighteen-year-olds. She would spend another week with these students then move on. She and Elliot had also gotten closer. Today was Sunday which meant she didn't have to work.

“I could stay like this all day,” Elliot said.

“We don't have to do anything today,” Kara replied.

“True,” he said giving her a kiss. Kara ran her fingers through Elliot's hair. As much as she wanted to continue this she wanted to eat.

“Let's eat breakfast first.” Elliot laughed getting out of the bed. They both had bowls of cereal. Elliot grabbed the newspaper which had been dropped off.

 **Supergirl still Missing** read the headline with a picture of Kara saving a child from a burning building. Beneath that article were mentions of the Agents of Liberty and the debate on whether aliens should be able to remain on Earth. He grabbed the sports section as Kara read the entirety of the front page. She continued on with the rest of the paper and saw in the back a small photo, it was of herself. MISSING was written under it. Kara Danvers. She knew Alex wouldn't have done this nor anyone else who knew her true identity. She thought of Lena but surely James had told her she was on assignment.

“Is it safe putting of photo of you in a paper with your alter-ego on the front page?” Elliot asked.

“I once stood next to a large poster of Supergirl and no one realized anything,” Kara replied.

“Well we know your sister is looking for you,” he said, “this is a good thing.” How much longer would it be? She tried not to think about it.

“I don't think my sister did this. Even though I don't think people will recognize me she knows it's still dangerous.”

“Looks like they dropped off new books and movies,” Elliot said after checking their mailbox. Neither of them had checked it last night. There were five books each the beginning of a different series. The movies were classics that Kara had seen before. And she wasn't interested in watching them anytime soon. They reminded her of Alex. Kara picked up the books. She normally would have loved to get lost in a book but not today.

“Have you read any of these?” Elliot asked, “I don't spend a lot of time reading fiction. If I do it's science fiction. They're very comedic.”

“Star Wars and Star Trek are comedic,” Kara said, “Though that's a different medium.”

“They are. But very comedic,” he said, “No planets from this system ever mentioned. Do you want to watch any of these movies?”

“No, they remind me too much of Alex,” Kara said, “Have you talked to Kaisey? She told me Friday she thinks she's pregnant.” In the past two weeks, Kaisey and her partner were the only other couple to become pregnant. And in one week Kara would have to take a pregnancy test. There were now thirteen couples out of the hundred who were achieving what Erie Syndicate wanted. Two dozen other families weren't necessarily required to complete what they wanted. So really it wasn't thirteen out of a hundred couples but thirteen out of seventy-six. Seventeen percent.

“She mentioned it. She's coming in tomorrow morning. The other couples seems to be happy and healthy,” Elliot said. Kara had met the other couples. Only one of them was really showing and that was because like Kara, she only had a short three-month pregnancy. She was a month in and only had eight weeks to go and then she'd be holding a newborn in her arms. The other couples had a range from seven to ten months. So, even if they got out of here in two weeks or two months their lives would never be the same. No one in the colony's life would be the same.

“Did you want to read one of these books?” Elliot asked breaking Kara away from her thoughts. “Oh. Sorry, um no,” Kara said, “Do you think we'll really get out of here?”

“We will, it'll just be some time,” he said, “Why don't we go into town? See what there is to do?” The rec center was the only option.

“We could go swimming.”

“Swimming sounds fun.”

“Great, I'll go change,” he said. He changed in the bathroom as Kara slipped into a suit and covered it with a jacket and sweatpants. Despite sleeping together Elliot and Kara still changed separately.

The pool was nearly empty but Kara figured it would get busier as the day went on. Some families would chose the indoor jungle gym and others the rock wall but there would be a handful in here. There was only one other couple in the pool and they were swimming laps. Kara went to sit in the hot tub and Elliot joined her. Kara then swam laps and dove off the diving board. At lunch the pair enjoyed pizza and then returned to the pool. Like Kara guessed the pool became busier. The kids section was filled with kids all under ten. Kara spotted one of the pregnant couples. She was due soon. This was the woman with a similar pregnancy length as Kryptonians. Kara went to speak with her.

“I'm Daria,” she said, “From Venus.”

“Kara, Kry- Saturn,” Kara replied.

“I'm here with my husband,” she said, “He's over in the lap pool.” Husband. They were married before arriving here. This meant they could have been trying before the colony or that now was a safe time to try. They sat on the edge of the pool as Daria told Kara about her job here, she was a cook at the diner, then she told Kara about her husband, her pregnancy and being here. When there were only so many people in a town people tended to make sure they had as much of a social life as possible. Kara was still fairly quiet around the others.

“You're with Elliot right?” she asked.

“Yes. He's-” Kara looked around, “Over there.” She pointed towards Elliot who was speaking with one of the kids. He looked happy. Kara knew he wanted a family. It wasn't something they had talked about recently though. She had mentioned it right before all this happened and he had said he wanted her.

“He looks like father material,” Daria said.

“Yeah,” Kara said quietly. He was father material- growing up the oldest in a large family- in a community of large families could do that she supposed. Kara wasn't sure whether she was mother material. She loved her mother but for a decade she had believed she was dead and her foster mother was great but there hadn't been a lot of conversations about whether she wanted kids. There was the sex talk when Kara was sixteen. But there had been a silent understanding between them that Kara most likely wouldn't be having a family of her own. Her status as an alien had to remain hidden and having a family would jeopardize that. When Alura had tried to talk to her about having kids Kara did her best to avoid the conversation.

“Elliot and I are going home soon. It was nice talking to you,” Kara said leaving Daria. She touched Elliot's back and he turned to see her.

“Let's head home,” Kara said.

“Sure, I'll meet you in the lobby,” he said as they left the pool. She dried her suit and changed into her jacket and sweatpants. Other couples watched as they left. Gossip. Another downfall of a small town.

“Did something happen?” Elliot asked when they entered their house.

“No, I just- I'm just tired, that's all,” Kara said, “I think I'm going to shower then take a nap.”

“I'm going to head to the library. I'll be right back.”

Kara slid down the wall, sitting in the tub. She didn't belong here. She wasn't meant to be with other families like this. She was meant to save them and she couldn't do that here. She was a captive just like they were. She was Supergirl, she was a journalist. She wasn't a wife or a mother. She was only going to have a fling with Elliot. Not a life long relationship. Tears spilled down her cheeks. None of them would be saved. The water became cold but Kara didn't care and eventually, it stopped. She felt a bathrobe being placed around her and looked up.

“Elliot,” she said wiping away her tears, “I didn't leave you any hot water.”

“That's okay,” he said, “I made some hot chocolate if you want some.” Kara nodded following him into the living room. She sat next to him on the couch. He didn't bring up what had just happened. He had put a movie on, it was an animated movie Kara hadn't seen.

“I was fascinated with the King Arthur legend when I got here,” he said, “This movie isn't really about King Arthur. One of the kids at the pool mentioned it. It's from the library.” Kara finished the hot chocolate.

“Kara what happened at the pool?” he asked after a while.

“Alex wants a family. She applied to be a foster parent. She wants kids. She wants to be a mom. I can't- they're crazy and people are actually doing what they want,” Kara said changing topics.

“I don't know if they're purposely getting pregnant. I think a lot of them see this place as the end. And they're living how they want- thinking it's the end. The aliens here know that while it wasn't the Agents of Liberty who did this it was still humans.”

“In all the horror films the first couple to have sex get killed first,” Kara said.

“Clearly Erie didn't get that memo,” he said. Kara let out a hollow laugh.

“This will all end,” he said, “We'll all get to go home. Maybe it won't be tomorrow or next week but it'll happen. Your sister and cousin will make sure of it. You'll help save everyone here.” He had said something similar a couple of times now but every time Kara felt a little better after he said it. No one else talked about leaving anymore, even Trice.

Kara finished watching the movie with Elliot and then they ate dinner. She even read one of the books that had been dropped off. It would be another couple of weeks for a new delivery. She knew everything came at night but she hadn't figured out how and had stopped looking after one alien came back so badly injured that he was still on bedrest.

“You still smell like chlorine,” Kara said sitting next to Elliot on their bed.

“You used all of the hot water,” he said, “I'm going to take a shower in the morning anyway.” The lights were eventually turned off and Kara heard what little noise there outside stopped. It was now past curfew.

 

“Clark, please tell me you've found something,” Alex said answering his phone call.

“We need to meet in person. There's something I haven't told you.”

“About Kara?”

“Lois was able to gather more information. I didn't want to say anything until I knew more.”

“Clark, what are you talking about?”

“I'll explain, I'll come to meet you tonight.”

Clark told Alex later that night about Elliot. He told her what had happened a few weeks ago. Hearing Kara call out for help and going to the complex.

“I think she is with this Elliot. He's a doctor, Alex. That's who her friend is. She was with him when you talked to her. We know this. If he's with her that means she isn't alone.”

“I can't believe you kept this from me! We could have found her by now.”

“I've been looking for weeks and I haven't been able to find her. I'm worried about her too. If I had told you- Alex she needs to keep her identity safe.”

“I could have helped. You should have told me! She's my sister!”

“And she's my cousin. Colonel Hailey is watching you. What if she figures out who Kara is? I will keep looking but Kara is going to want to come back to her normal life. You have to tell your boss that Kara has reached out. That she's safe.”

“But we don't know that!”

“I can hear her heartbeat.” This was a lie. Clark hadn't heard it in weeks but he hadn't told anyone that.

“We'll find her Alex. I'll find her. She'll be home soon.”

“J'onn has to wipe my memory,” Alex said. She explained the situation to him.

“Hailey is watching and wants to find out who Supergirl is. I don't know why, it's not like she's been around. But for her safety I can't know. And once my memory is wiped we can't talk anymore. I won't know you. I know I might start looking for Kara on my own. You have to tell James to give me false information. You have to look for her on your own okay?” Clark heard her voice break.

“I will Alex,” he said.

“Thank you,” she said, “Goodbye and good luck.”

 


	6. Isolation

“How's the observing going?” Elliot asked. Kara and Elliot had just sat down to dinner.

“Okay, you can really see the effect this place has had on the older students,” Kara said, “The younger kids don't know how disconnected they are from the world.”

“Who teaches the high schoolers?”

“Gina,” Kara said. Gina was from Rann.

“She tries to come to class upbeat and be optimistic for the students about what they're learning. But I don't think her heart is in it either.”

“She was separated from her partner who was human,” Elliot said, “What are the students learning right now?”

“Today in math they're going over the quadratic equation, in Earth history 101 they're learning about Ancient Egypt, they're reading The Crucible in English, and in science they're learning about frog biology,” Kara said, “But like I said I don't know how much they're really learning. They don't want to learn. They don't want to be here. I'm worried Elliot. I know Gilina is busy with her newborn but I really think the students would benefit with her visiting the class and spending time with them.”

“You think they're in danger of themselves?”

“Yes. You might have been here a decade but you didn't go to high school here. You don't know what it feels like to be isolated, to be alone like these teens are.”

“High school wasn't the best experience for you was it?”

“I wasn't in a good place most of high school. My cousin was saving the world, my sister was in college, and my mom was dead. She's probably wondering where I am right now.”

“Your mom? Alura?”

“I told her I'd visit every six months and I was planning on visiting after my time with you. She likely thinks I'm busy.”

“But she might come looking too,” Elliot said, “We have to assume they're looking.”

“I wish we could tell the others.” But that would be breaking one of the rules. They weren't allowed to plan escapes as a group and telling others people were looking that they would be coming to rescue them would result in punishment. And for Kara that most likely meant they would go after Alex.

“I know,” Elliot said grabbing her hand, “But we should give Gilina a call. Maybe she can stop in once a day or something and check on the students.” Elliot wouldn't really be able to call her though. He would have to go to her house since there were no phones in the colony. Elliot cleared the dishes and the two of them left for Gilina's.

Her husband opened the door. He looked tired but invited them in. Kara smiled as Gilinia entered the living room.

“We know you're really busy with Tom,” Elliot started, “But we were wondering if you could take time out of your day to visit the teen class.”

“I've been observing them the past couple of days. Gina and I are worried about them. None of them are happy. The younger kids don't seem too bothered by the fact they're cooped up here.”

“They don't realize how isolated they are yet,” Gilina said, “I'll stop by tomorrow and speak with them. None of their parents have reached out but they might not notice how withdrawn they've become here. They're most likely too focused on trying to normalize life here.”

“How are you two adjusting to life here?” she asked catching Kara off guard.

“We're hoping,” Kara said watching her words, “we're waiting to go home.” Gilina had heard similar statements in sessions the past five and a half weeks. People didn't want to be here and they held on to a hope that this would end soon. While she didn't want to squash that hope she knew that they wouldn't be going home- not anytime soon. She had hope in the beginning especially when her husband arrived but that disappeared when she saw Cecilia wasn't with him. She wouldn't be coming for visits. She was to remain with her grandfather.

“Have you thought about the possibility that this is your home now?”

“Gilina, I've been in situations like this,” Elliot said, “Someone is going to find us. It could be a stray hiker and all they would have to do is go to the media.”

“We aren't on Saturn Elliot. Yes, Earth is much smaller but Erie Syndicate chose their location wisely. It could be weeks or months until we're found. If we're found. People have lived in captivity for years Elliot before they're rescued and there are people looking for them. No one's going to come looking for us. Even if news gets out we're missing the Syndicate will find a way to divert people's attention.” But people were looking. Kara knew this, Kara knew her sister was looking for her. But she couldn't tell Gilinia that. Erie Syndicate stated they didn't put recording devices in homes but Kara had her suspicions. She was open with speaking with Elliot in their house because she knew there weren't any. They checked the house once a week to make sure.

“People aren't going to give up hope,” Kara said, “They need it.” Gilina didn't say anything to this. She agreed with Kara that hope was needed but she knew that to hope that they would be getting out of here anytime soon was pointless. She had been too busy to hope the past few weeks.

“We should get going. They're going to wonder what we're doing here,” Elliot said. After they left Kara and Elliot walked around the town. Some families were out. The weather had warmed and there were children on the playground. Kara spotted Trice and Felicity leaving the office building. Their relationship, according to Felicity, had improved some but it wasn't where the Syndicate wanted. Kara looked at the guards, none of which she had really gotten to know, walk around watching. She wondered why they were doing the job they had been assigned. She wondered how the Syndicate controlled them. She knew how they controlled Robert's father.

If he were to tell the media anything about what happened not only would they take his granddaughter away but they would release all the names of everyone from the complex, including Kara's. Her granddaughter would most likely end up in a facility to be studied because she would be the first known alien-human hybrid. The two walked in silence as the continued their way back home.

Kara sat next to Elliot on the couch as he grabbed one of the books. She opened her laptop and wrote down everything that had happened today just as she had for the past two and half weeks. She then grabbed a notebook and wrote down what actually happened. The computers she guessed were being monitored by someone at Erie Syndicate.

“Before tonight had you met Gilina?” Elliot asked Kara putting aside his book.

“Once, in the office building. She wanted me to come into her office sometime.”

“Why haven't you?”

“She'd want to talk about what happened during those three weeks. … I kept asking them about you. And how they knew about me and you and everyone else. What they planned to do. They talked about their community. How it was safe, secure, perfect for people like me. I tried to escape and I was nearly successful three times.”

“You tried to escape?”

“I was able to get out of the restraints. I've worked under kryptonite lights before. They caught me each time,” Kara said pulling her knees to her chest.

“What happened when they caught you?”

“Resistance will result in punishment. I'm going to go take a bath.” Kara got up and left the room. She drew herself a bath and soaked in the tub. The bruises were gone but the memory of how she got them wasn't. Kara left the tub and put on her robe. Elliot was still in the living room but he wasn't reading the fiction book. He had one of the anatomy books out but Kara couldn't tell which one it was. She sat next to him and he closed his book.

“Are you going back to the class tomorrow?” he asked. Kara nodded grabbing his tea.

“I could make you a cup,” he said,

“No, I'll take yours,” she said smiling. She took a sip.

“How do you like it?” he asked.

“It's a bit too sweet,” she said, “Could use more lemon.” She gave the cup back to Elliot who placed it on the coffee table. Elliot stood up after looking at the clock.

“I think I'm going to head off to bed,” he said, “I have an early morning tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Kara replied standing up. He went to kiss her forehead but Kara went to kiss him on his lips. She looped her arms around his neck as he placed his hands on her waist. The pair stumbled into the bedroom. Kara fell back onto their bed.

 

“I don't want to go into work today,” Kara said.

“We can't stay in bed today,” he said, “I have patients to see and you have students to visit.”

“Gilina is supposed to visit today. … They're going to make me take a pregnancy test soon.”

“They've sent in a new box of them,” he said, “You know Gilina is going to want to talk to you after class today. Especially with how we left yesterday.”

“I've think we've adjusted well,” Kara said, “Nothing to talk about. We should do more of no talking.” Kara felt Elliot's lips turn into a smile as she kissed him.

“As much as I'd like to continue this, I have to get ready for work. But you can join me in the shower.”

Kara finished up eating her eggs as Elliot had a second cup of coffee. They walked to the office building and Kara gave him a kiss before heading to the school. She greeted Gina and informed her of Gilina coming in.

“Do you really think it'll help these kids? The only thing that would help would be-” but she stopped. They both knew what she was going to say: to leave the colony.

“She'll be in just after lunch,” Kara said. The morning dragged on as it had the past few days. The students didn't care. They read from their readings out loud but their voices had no emotion. When Kara watched them at lunch there was little chatter. They spoke with each other but not about their plans for the weekend or what they were going to do that night. They missed their homes and like Kara and the other couples they would eventually have to face the reality of what the Syndicate expected of them. The oldest was seventeen and the moment they turned eighteen they would be given a job.

Gilina visited the students just like she said she would. But Kara wasn't sure if she really connected with them. She mentioned she'd be visiting everyday. The students didn't seem to care. Kara expected some kind of emotion to be expressed. There were only seven students, two were seniors, one a junior, one a sophomore, and three were freshmen. The seniors and junior didn't live in the complex originally, they were being homeschooled in different parts of the northwest. As Kara was leaving Gilina stopped her.

“When does Elliot get home?” she asked.

“Uh- not until later. He won't be home until after dinner,” Kara said caught off guard by the question.

“Good. That means we can talk,” she said.

“Oh I really don't-”

“Kara my job is to talk to people here. I've only spoken with a handful of people- under a hundred. They want me to speak with everyone eventually.” Kara groaned. Compliance will be rewarded and resistance will result in punishment. Kara wondered if they had punished Gilina or if they hadn't because of the baby. Kara sat in Gilina's office.

“We are well adjusted,” Kara said, “Elliot has been here longer and we're not thrilled about being here. But we've adjusted.”

“You use the term 'we' a lot,” Gilina said.

“That's how we're seen. That's how they see us. As 'we's'. I'm not an 'I' anymore. Neither is Elliot.”

“You spend a lot of time with Elliot,” Gilina said.

“There are the rules. Besides other couples spend time together. You do know a dozen couples are pregnant.”

“I am aware. There are mixers to go to- outside of your relationship.”

“I like spending time with Elliot,” Kara said, “I know him.”

“You could get to know others. What about the people you work with?”

“They're nice,” Kara said, “But I haven't spent time with them recently. I've been busy observing the students. They want me to write a memoir.”

“What do you do after work?”

“Just because school is out it doesn't mean I'm done working. I go write.”

“What do you write about?”

“My day.”

“Have you written about Elliot?”

“Elliot? A minute ago you didn't want to talk about Elliot.”

“We can talk about whatever you like.”

“I'm here because they want me to be. Compliance will be rewarded,” Kara said looking at her feet.

“And are you complying Kara?” Kara looked up. She was going to quip back but stopped herself. This wasn't really Gilina asking. This was Erie Syndicate.

“Yes,” Kara said softly, “We're complying.” Kara saw the look in Gilina's eyes. They were apologetic. Kara remembered last night and this morning. There had been no use of protection. They could become like other couples. Not that the pregnancy test would show it yet.

“I'm sorry about Cecilia. I'm sure you miss her,” Kara said.

“Thank you. I do,” she said, “She was so excited to be a big sister. They let her write me a letter every week- rather her grandfather writes them. I get to write back once a month. She was thrilled to hear that I know Supergirl.”

“I can give her an autograph,” Kara said, “How long is this session supposed to last?”

“We have another twenty minutes,” Gilina said, “We can talk about Elliot if you want. Since you do spend so much time with him.”

“We met at this alien bar,” Kara said, “Over a month ago.”

“You came back with him to the complex,” Gilina said. Kara nodded.

“I was taking a few weeks off. My sabbatical has lasted longer than I planned.”

“Why did you go with Elliot?”

“I was being spontaneous,” Kara said. It was just supposed to be a fling. She was supposed to be home right now. Maybe spending the evening with Alex.

“Now I'm here,” Kara said. There was a knock on the door. It was Gilina's receptionist. There was someone to see her. Kara said her goodbyes not bothering to see who had come to see Gilina. She ran into Elliot leaving his office.

“She roped you in didn't she?” he asked.

“It's her job,” Kara replied, “I don't know what good it did. I'm starving. Let's stop at the diner.” When the pair walked in there were about two dozen people enjoying food. Kara hadn't seen any of them.

“Who are they?”

“I don't know,” Elliot replied, “They must be new.” He asked the waitress who they were.

“I don't know a lot about them. One's another doctor and one is a judge and one of them is going to be the new head of the guard,” she replied, “They aren't like us.”

“What do you mean they aren't like us?” Kara asked.

“They're here voluntarily.”

 

*If you want steamier scenes between these two I can post them in a new story marked M.

 


	7. Voluntarily

The judge, a man named Hal, was the first one to introduce himself. He was mainly there to marry the couples. So, Erie Syndicate didn't want them having children out of wedlock. Kara smirked at this thought and saw a similar look on Elliot's face. Hal said he had met an Erie Syndicate member about a month prior. His group had been moving about for a while due to fears of CADMUS and Children of Liberty. When Erie Syndicate told them of their community they were open to the idea. Some of their members weren't but they managed to be convinced.

The other members would fill the office building and the rec center as workers. Five of the members were teenagers and would be joining the other students with Gina. Hal eventually left Kara and Elliot alone.

“Voluntarily. I can't believe they're here of their own choice,” Kara said.

“They were scared,” Elliot said, “And apparently Erie Syndicate is worried about our moral standings.” Kara laughed at this. Out of everything Erie had done they were worried about the aliens they kept prisoner moral compasses.

“How many other colonies do you think they have?” Kara asked. Elliot shrugged. Most of the aliens in the US could be in colonies like this. They had no way of knowing and it wasn't like the newspapers were printing anything about it. Erie Syndicate planned on keeping them here for years. They would eventually release them or they would be released by someone. It's why they gave the job of writing a memoir to Kara. She wondered if there would be other memoirs from other colonies. She could picture the headlines now: **Supergirl: One of the captured, Aliens confined in colonies freed, Aliens speak out about their confinement, Supergirl's Identity Revealed**. Kara only ate half her food the last headline prediction lingering in her mind. All of her hiding would be for nothing. She would lose her job as a journalist. Lena would hate her. The president would be pleased. She'd probably have to move to Argo. It wouldn't be long till they figured out Clark was Superman. If Erie knew she was Supergirl it was likely they knew who he was too.

The chances of them leaving anytime soon seemed to shrink with the arrival of the new group. They wouldn't want to leave and Erie knew that.

“If we're freed my identity will be revealed,” Kara said to Elliot once they were home and in bed.

“You don't know that.”

“They know who I am, they knew I was Supergirl. You knew it Elliot.”

“I lived next to Kryptonians though. And your neighbors now don't know who you are. It's not like you told them.”

“No but-”

“Kara, if Erie wanted to release your name to the press they would have done so already. It would give you incentive to stay here. Clearly they didn't think of that. If they release us it'll be because it's safe for aliens again but they know releasing all the names of aliens would be dangerous. They know if we're freed by someone else releasing the names would put all of us in danger. They're using that to manipulate Robbie's father but I doubt they intend to use the information. If they really cared about our safety they wouldn't endanger us.” Kara sighed he was right.

“I'm not usually so... paranoid.”

“I know,” Elliot said, “But being manipulated like what Erie is doing it's understandable. You aren't the only one worried about them releasing our names.”

“Are you going back to Saturn?” Kara left of the word 'after' and Elliot didn't need to hear it because he knew.

“There are going to be patients here,” he said, “They trust me. They'll need my help. But once that's all over. I don't know. It would probably be a good idea to leave Earth for a while. Would you go back to National City? Or would you go to Argo?”

“Earth has become my home,” Kara said not really answering his question. She wasn't really sure. She knew she would go to Argo City but she didn't think she'd really stay there. But maybe Earth wouldn't be safe when this was over. If it was ever over. With the arrival of the new members Kara suspected they'd be here awhile.

“I could really go for a beer,” Elliot said and Kara laughed. No one was supplied alcohol here.

“I'd kill for Netflix,” Kara said.

“What kind of shows do you like to watch?” This was a needless question. He already knew and she knew his favorites. They had had all the small talk possible the past few weeks. Their conversations had dived into more personal, intimate topics too. This question was to keep them distracted, to keep them thinking of anything but Erie and the new arrivals. There would most likely be a meeting about them tomorrow. They would be expected to go.

“Kara,” Elliot said. But before he could ask her anything she kissed him. Then she stripped her top off.

“Kara,” Elliot said and she returned to kissing him. He gently pushed her away.

“Kara, are you sure you-”

“We went through this the other night,” Kara said. Then she paused.

“Do you not- are you worried I'll become pregnant?”

“We don't have any protection,” Elliot said basically repeating his words from last night, “And there's a higher chance-”

“I don't need a sex ed lecture,” Kara said.

“I know but I think we need to be careful,” Elliot said.

“We were careful last night. Was last night a mistake?”

“What? No, of course not. But I don't want to have sex to distract ourselves. Not like I'm sure the others are doing.” Kara sighed. He was right. And as he had been for the past two weeks he was the voice of reason. She hated that. She hated being talked down. She hated this feeling of being weak.

“My brother, Felix has probably gotten married by now,” Elliot said changing the subject, “If they eloped man- both sets of parents going to be upset.”

“So I take it eloping isn't common?”

“It's rare but I know a handful of couples that have eloped. We're kind of eloping.” Kara laughed.

“I guess we kind of are. Krypton has this marriage ritual. We praise Rao in his glory. Brides wear a dress of gold or that has some kind of gold accent. Grooms wear white but they wear something gold that's been passed down the family- usually a house crest pin. During the ceremony a silk scarf- well it's not really a scarf more like a long thin blanket- is wrapped around your wrists then around both your bodies. There isn't really a reception; just a dinner with both the families.”

“On Saturn the ceremony is five maybe ten minutes tops. The reception- damn they last forever. Six hours minimum. There's this building right outside town. All they do is host wedding receptions.”

“Doesn't that get expensive? How do people pay for it?” How did people pay to feed all of their kids, Kara wanted to ask.

“Loans, we don't have to worry about paying for school though. And large families- food isn't too expensive either, lots of farms on Saturn,” Elliot said answering Kara's unasked question.

“Argo is different than what it was on Krypton. There's more open space – kind of like it is here. On Krypton I lived in a city, buildings that reached higher than you could see or that I could see when I was thirteen.”

“Is that why you chose to live in National City?”

“Easier to blend in a city. There are crowds to slip in and hide. People watch you in a small town. Like they do here.”

“At least there won't be gossip about us for a while,” Elliot said, “The others will be too focused on the new group.”

“You'll meet at least one tomorrow, the new doctor. And I'll meet the kids tomorrow too.”

“The new group is going to make it more difficult to find a way out of here,” Elliot said, “Even if your sister or cousin finds us they might not want to go.”

“Then they can stay here and we'll leave,” Kara said. Elliot hadn't spoken much about leaving but she was glad the topic wasn't forgotten about.

 

When Kara and Elliot left after breakfast they were met by a couple from the voluntary group. They were already in a relationship before Erie. The woman was the doctor of the group and her husband was going to be working with the guard. Elliot started a conversation with the doctor while the new guardsmen spoke with Kara.

“I heard people try to leave this place,” he said.

“Most people aren't here by choice. We were captured and placed here, like animals at a zoo.”

“Many zoo animals are bred in captivity,” he said.

“The use of the word 'captivity' means they aren't that we aren't meant to be here.”

“We're safe from Children of Liberty and CADMUS here,” he replied.

“They didn't torture you before you got here. And they don't threaten to harm your loves ones. I don't call this place safe,” Kara said walking past the man whose name she never got. She entered the schoolhouse and found the room with the high schoolers louder than normal. The new students were the ones she noticed first. They were all talking and not just to each other but to the others in the class and they were responding. They weren't smiling but they were talking. Gina was very excited and while she mentioned a handful of the new parents and her worry of how it would change the colony but she was pleased with the students new attitudes.

And they did have a new attitude. For the first time since observing them they were responding to their teacher's discussion questions. Kara also spoke with the new students. They mentioned always having to move around the past few years and the prejudice they experienced at their old schools. One of the students was treated as a joke at one of the school dances. It wasn't _Carrie_ level cruel but they still spent the following weekend crying. Kara began to understand why these families and others wanted to come here. They saw this place as a sanctuary whereas the two hundred others saw it as a prison. These kids saw this place as one that offered hope and safety. And Kara knew that maybe the others would see this place that way eventually. Would Elliot see this place as home? Would she this place like that too? Would she see this place as home? 

At lunch Kara sat with Gina and the teacher brought up the possibility of designating one of the rooms at the rec center specifically for teens. They would make it a game room, maybe add a mini fridge stocked with sodas and have a table filled with snacks. They had the items needed too. Erie Syndicate had storage in the basement of the rec center filled with items like televisions, game systems, and extra food and medical supplies. Elliot had told her of the room but she had yet to see it. The room they'd set up would be monitored just like every other place in the colony.

Gilina stopped by after lunch and spoke with students again. They were in brighter spirits and she seemed pleased with their progress. And once again she stopped Kara once the day ended.

“Gilina, you should just go home. I don't want to talk,” Kara said, “I have work to do anyway.” Kara walked away from the woman but she caught up with her.

“I met one of them earlier,” she said.

“They will comply,” she said then quieter, “I will never see my daughter again.”

“We don't need their help to get out of here,” Kara said, “I- I have people on the outside looking for us.”

“What?”

“They're listening,” Kara replied then spoke up louder, “Will I see you tonight at the meeting?”

“No, no my husband and I won't be attending.” Kara went to the office to type up more notes. She learned that Trice and Felicity had been assigned to different partners. _They_ knew that the two weren't complying. Neither of them said anything about their new partners. The office was quiet that day but Kara could hear chatter in the hallway. She had been stopped numerous times coming in. They wanted to know where she was from. Saturn. It was a quick short response. No one questioned it. And due to her tone no one asked her anymore questions. She didn't want to be welcoming. She wanted to go home.

At dinner that night Kara asked Elliot about the new doctor.

“She wants to meet everyone, like I did. Then she wants you to choose who will be your doctor. And because we're technically partners I can't- shouldn't treat you,” Elliot said.

“What? You're going to follow Earth medical rules here?”

“It's Erie. They want to normalize it here. And this is a way they plan on doing it.”

“That meeting isn't going to happen,” Kara said. It was a statement not a question. And she was right. The meeting didn't happen. They didn't receive any notes about it. When they went to the hall there were guards blocking the entrance and they were told to return home.

 

Clark met up with Lois and their apartment. Something had happened. When he entered the apartment she was holding a sleeping toddler.

“What happened?”

“Her grandfather is gone,” Lois said, “They- he's gone Clark. I told him I'd keep her safe.” Erie Syndicate had killed this young girl's grandfather. He couldn't figure out why.

“I'm running the story tomorrow. Already talked to the boss. If by chance Kara sees it- she might connect the dots. She'll know we're looking for her.”

“Jimmy called me today,” Clark said, “Alex is going to try to step away from the DEO. Strike out on her own to find Kara.”

“Does she know about Elliot?”

“I don't know. Jimmy said she sounded desperate. She's scared.”

“We have to find them. Before I leave.”

“If you leave before we find them you should take her with you. Whoever took her parents I'm sure are looking for her. Who knows what they'll do.”

“It's been six weeks Clark,” Lois said.

“I know.” His jaw was tight. Six weeks and he hadn't heard from her, hadn't found her.

 


	8. The Article by Lois Lane

Elliot brought in their weekly newspaper a few days after the new group's arrival only to quickly drop his mug of coffee. Kara heard the ceramic shatter against the tile floor and rushed into the kitchen. Elliot was on his knees clutching the newspaper.

“Elliot what is it?” Kara asked kneeling next to him. She put her hands on his shoulders.

**Apartment complex owner found dead, granddaughter missing** She tried to stifle a gasp.

“I don't understand,” Elliot said, “We're following their rules.” He crumpled the paper as he began to sob. Kara wrapped her arms around him as the paper fell to the floor.

“We're never going to get out of this place.”

“No, we will. My sister, my cousin they're looking for us. Like you said- it'll just be awhile. They're hiding us from the world.”

“No! Kara you're right. We are stuck here and they're always listening. There is no way this will end in freedom.”

“Yes, yes it will. We just have to wait. There isn't a lot we can do in here but Alex and Kal-El are looking. And look- look at the byline,” Kara said spotting Lois's name.

“Lois wouldn't have written this had she not had a part. She could be taking care of Gilina's daughter.”

“Kara, this is a punishment. This is meant to keep us in line.”

“But why would they punish us? No one has done anything wrong.”

“Maybe Robert's father did something wrong. Maybe they're worried Clark is getting too close.”

“That means we should have hope,” Kara said.

“I don't think anyone where will have that. Oh God. Robert and Gilina. We have to obey their rules. For everyone's sake. If we don't- they'll just kill more people. What's stopping them from hurting one of us? They've already done it to nearly everyone of the original group. There are children here, how hard would it be for Erie to decide that they've changed their plan? That they have no place here?”

“Then we prepare them. We prepare the others.”

“Kara if we attempt to prepare anyone- if you lead them? They'll kill you or Alex. No we need to comply. It's the only way to stay safe.”

“What if the others rebel?”

“Maybe right now we should only worry about each other. We can keep each other safe. We won't get involved. I- I'll continue my job as a doctor of course but we need to present ourselves as law abiding.”

“They won't let us leave here if we present ourselves as boring.”

“No but they won't hurt us or anyone we care about.”

“Okay, okay we'll keep to ourselves for a while,” Kara said. He turned towards her and she wiped away his tears. Before she could say anything else he kissed her. She was surprised. In the past week they hadn't kissed or touched each other intimately. There was an unsaid fear that it would go further and it would end up in the way Erie wanted. And Kara knew in this moment Elliot was distracting himself. But she didn't know how much was a distraction and how much was because he actually wanted to kiss her, to touch her, to make love to her. Yet in that moment she didn't care. She wanted to forget too. She wanted to help him forget.

 

“Alex, Alex the police are looking for Kara,” James said.

“We know she was searching a story. What if this was it? What if she knew something about this apartment owner?”

“Please, just get me in contact with Lois. Or I don't know Superman. Maybe he will look for Kara.”

“He has other problems. Look the police are looking when they shouldn't be. She's on a story. I don't think there's really any need to be concerned,” James responded. This was the second time she had spoken to him about her sister and he expected it wouldn't be the last.

“Kara doesn't do in-depth stories that take weeks to write. She's been writing those alien fluff pieces. The DEO has looked into this complex you know. Maybe she went there to write a story and something happened and she was caught in the middle of it. She's going to try to help cause that's the person she is. But she shouldn't. We both know it's not safe for her. I love Kara but she's not strong enough to-”

“Kara is strong, after all she's the longest lasting assistant I've had,” Cat Grant said entering her former office.

“Cat,” James said, “What are you doing back?”

“Well my job as press secretary is gone considering the old white man who is in office. Really, needing to know Supergirl's identity- she doesn't just tell anyone. She didn't tell me.”

“Aliens need to stop hiding, pretending they're human,” Alex said, “And Supergirl is no exception.”

“Get me that phone call with Lois. I need to find my sister. James if you were really her friend you would want to as well.” And with that Alex left the office. Cat watched her walk away then turned back to James.

“What is going on with her?” Cat asked. James closed the doors though it didn't stop people from watching.

“She's worried about Kara. She's been on assignment for just over six weeks. We haven't heard from her. No one has.”

“Supergirl has disappeared too.”

“Well with the president's demands can you blame her?”

“I know who Kara is James. No use pretending anymore. My question is why her sister doesn't.”

“It wasn't safe for her to know,” James said, “She doesn't now- that's not what matters right now.”

“So is Kara really on assignment?” Cat asked.

“Her cousin thinks she was kidnapped along with around one hundred other aliens and more and more have gone missing around the country.”

“She didn't get caught up with helping them. She's one who needs help. Send all the information you have to my penthouse. And you can tell Lane that she has another reporter on this case.”

 

Kara laid on her back as Elliot traced along her body. In that moment they had both forgotten. They had forgotten they weren't in his apartment. That they should be careful. That they were doing exactly what Erie wanted. The couple had spent the last couple of hours in bed and when Kara went up to bathe he joined her in a tub that easily fit both of them. Kara thought about the ceremony that would soon be taking place. Maybe it wouldn't take place tomorrow or even within a week but it would be soon. They would be married. He would be her husband. And she, his wife. On Krypton divorce did not exist unless under extenuating circumstances. She didn't know about Saturn but she guessed it was similar. After would they have a divorce? Would the marriage even be seen as legal? Would they want a divorce? This was supposed to be a fling Kara reminded herself. But that had changed. She didn't know if she'd want to remain married to him after this was over- if it was ever over but she wanted to stay in contact with him.

“What are you thinking about?” Elliot asked lightly kissing her neck. They had enjoyed the previous nights in bed as time inched closer to their ceremony. 

“Our marriage ceremony,” Kara answered partially truthfully. Their life in the community was moving forward and this was what Erie wanted the next step to be. Elliot was right earlier, it was best to comply. And in compliance their relationship had grown.

There was no meeting about the newspapers' headline. Gilinia and Robert didn't leave their home and they stayed inside for several days. The town had come to a standstill as well. School was not held and Elliot and the other doctor were the only ones who went into work in case of emergency. Even then they alternated. When he was home they spent their days lounging watching films, reading, or spending it in bed though nights didn't always end in sex. The caution they had taken before was gone. They had become like the other couples but Kara hoped there was more to the sex than distraction.

Two and a half weeks passed until the town returned to its normal state. And even then Kara spent most of her time at home with Elliot. He didn't want to interact outside their jobs and she obliged for now. In that time they had learned more about each other past their planets' history and the usual small talk. They had learned their deepest desires and fears. Elliot wanted a family this she knew but she learned that if he was on Saturn he wouldn't be against the usual large family. And in turn he learned she didn't know if she was mother material.

The marriage ceremonies started and it was another week until the judge performed Kara and Elliot's. The ceremony was short and uneventful. Elliot had brought a gold token- a pin he had received upon graduation and had found a long scarf. He failed upon trying to wrap it around them but it warmed Kara's heart that he tried. The two, along with the other couples, were given rings to wear. They were simple gold bands and in the moment Kara thought about how much money was spent by Erie. Why would they spend money on wedding bands? This was one of many questions she had and one she was sure would not be answered.

The night after the ceremony the newly wedded couple spent it in bed. The past week they had refrained from sex. More couples had conceived. Five more. The pregnancy test Kara had taken was negative but the next one could be different. Elliot was slower that night. It was an attempt to make it special- this was their wedding night. The other nights save the first couple were quicker and distracting. This night wasn't and despite the risks Kara was grateful.

“We should do that more often,” Kara said the following morning. Elliot knew what she meant and he smiled. He brushed hair out of her eyes as she laid next to him. They had been given the day off- a sort of honeymoon gifted by Erie.

“We do have all day together,” he said. Kara thought about it but then thought about the risks. She thought about a child- her child being born here. Never knowing anyone outside these walls. Not knowing Alex or her mother. They would only know the people here and should they escape this place... She hadn't thought of raising a child on Earth. In their long, late night discussions raising a family had come up more than once. Yet it was never stated that it'd be her and Elliot's family. But she knew were she to become pregnant it would be better to go to Argo. It would be safer there for the child. And they would know Krypton something that still seemed like a distant memory to Kara. One in which she had said goodbye to despite desperately wanting to return to a destroyed home. She shook her head sitting up holding the sheet against her.

“I want to go to the rec center today. Grab a pizza, see what they're showing in the media center.” She thought about mentioning the headache that was forming but decided against it. She wanted to return to communicating with others. She had grown to care for Elliot since arriving here and the past three weeks had only made them closer, emotionally and physically. She felt Elliot place his lips on her neck in an attempt to coax her back to bed.

“Elliot, we have to return to life sometime,” she said, “It's been nearly a month-” and around three months since she first disappeared. She thought about her sister. She hadn't done anything to try to escape. The past month they had done what Erie wanted but in reality they had been quieted by fear. Gilina and Robert were social now but they worried about their daughter. Other members had continued but like them a shadow of fear followed. Kara hadn't been able to avoid others in the way Elliot could. As a journalist she became connected to the stories she told and the ones she heard. The two dozen here voluntarily had come out of fear and had none when it came to Erie. When she asked about what they expected.

“It's a price to pay for safety,” was a common response. Being watched like animals in a cage, treated like an exhibit- seen as an experiment was not safety. But she never responded with this.

“Please,” Elliot said, “One more day. This is our honeymoon after all.” Kara hadn't pictured a honeymoon like this. In a room she had slept in every night, in a walled community. She pictured the cliché palm trees and sand beneath her toes, the sound of the ocean. She pictured seclusion that was different than the kind they were living now.

“Tonight,” Kara said wanting it like he did. His touch felt natural or maybe she had grown used to it. Elliot seemed to accept this and went to the office they shared after changing. He had changed since the newspaper had first arrived. His eyes were no longer bright and Kara didn't know what to do to return the light he once had. He tried, she knew that but she knew he blamed himself for the death of his friend. Kara had gotten word to Gilina that her daughter was safe but no matter how many times she tried to convince Elliot this he only seemed to become more paranoid.

One night they had gotten into a fight. She was angry with him. He didn't have family on Earth like she did. He didn't have an identity to protect. Yes, his family hadn't heard from him but they were safe on Saturn.

“But they're not safe. Not all of them,” he had cried. Kara hadn't understood.

“You're here with me,” he had quietly said. She hadn't known how to respond but to wrap her arms around him.

After a day of movies Kara returned home with a pizza. She had sat in silence in the theatre room, crying not at whatever film was on but for her sister and her mother and for J'onn and Lena and James and her cousin and Lois. She missed them terribly but didn't know how to tell Elliot. She felt guilty for bringing them up, she feared bringing them up with Erie listening. Her and Elliot ate in silence not discussing how their day had gone. She hadn't mentioned running into the other doctor. Or that she had felt ill. He had noticed her tear stained streaks but when she showered they were gone and decided to wait for her to bring it up. He asked her that night if she just wanted to go to bed. Her headache had become worse resulting in visioning darkening around the edges of her sight.

“It's our honeymoon,” she replied. There was a light smile on her face but even he could tell it wasn't genuine.

“Kara, what's wrong?” he placed his hand on her cheek looking at her.

“Kara?” he asked. She had winced upon hearing a knock at the door, closing her eyes.

“It's just a headache. That's all. A- a migraine.”

“Stay here,” he said.

“Holly,” Elliot said opening to the door to his colleague.

 


	9. Test

Holly, the new doctor, stood at the entryway to the small home. She held a medical bag and in her arms was the Kryptonian medical book. A handful of pages and what looked like every page in a chapter was sticky-noted. She entered the house and flipped open the book.

“Where's Kara?” she asked, “I saw her earlier today.” Elliot's stomach sank and he swiftly showed her to the master bedroom. Kara was lying back on the bed looking up.

“Kara?”

“I've never had a migraine before and I don't remember having headaches when I lived on Krypton. Except for when my super hearing is- was bothered. My mother had some nasty headaches when I was really young but those stopped and Kal-El's mom had really bad ones. There was a this like month when they were pretty continuous. Our family doctor visited almost daily then. He visited me too then. I left Krypton soon after. He was making sure I was healthy enough to travel I guess.” She gave a sad, sardonic laugh. “Maybe if I had been sick, been dying I would have remained with my parents.”

“Kara, Dr. Ross is here,” Elliot said sitting on the bed wincing at her words. Kara sat up looking at Holly.

“It's just a headache- a migraine. Is there a difference? I'm sure I'll be fine after I sleep and have fluids- that helped Alex when she was sick.”

“Kara, are you experiencing any other symptoms besides headaches?” Holly asked. She was holding the book up but Kara couldn't tell which pages she was turned to.

“My eyesight- it's darkening around the edging,” Kara said. Holly glanced at Elliot.

“I'll be right back. I'm going to get some water,” Elliot said and Kara narrowed her eyes as he left. Holly sat down next to her not having a stool.

“Kara when was your last menstrual cycle?” Had Kara been drinking water she would have choked on it.

“I'm not- I can't be. We've been careful.” But that last part was a partial lie. They had tried to be careful but the past few weeks they hadn't really been. Kara looked at the book the doctor was holding. Pregnancy symptoms were listed for the first month. Migraines, blurry vision, nausea and fatigue were just a few. Kara hadn't experienced nausea but she recalled her aunt had. She had left meals in a rush when she was pregnant with Kal-El. The whole chapter was about Kryptonian pregnancy Kara realized. She had skimmed it months ago when her mother had given her the book but she had done that for every chapter. The images blurred and tears fell.

“I didn't even realize I missed it.”

“We can go to my office,” she said gently, “It'll be easier there.” Kara nodded. This was a common reaction from couples Holly learned. Most of the couples had been paired up by Erie. They, like Kara and Elliot, had only known each other for a few months. And they were not prepared to bring new life into this world. Most though had many, long months ahead, some even a year to prepare. Kara and Elliot did not have this luxury.

“I can give you something for the pain,” she said.

“Nothing worked for my aunt,” Kara said. The conversation with Alura had been a decent length and she tried to recall what her mother had said to her about these migraines. She hadn't said anything not that she could remember. Kara was too shocked when she had brought up babies in the first place.

“Okay, well Earth is different from Krypton,” Holly said, “I'll let you get dressed.” She left the room and Kara held back a sob. Elliot entered the room as Kara pulled on a sweatshirt.

“We weren't careful,” Kara said her voice hardly above a whisper. He pulled her into his arms.

“I'm not ready,” she said.

“I know,” he said.

“We can't raise a child here,” she said.

“Hopefully your cousin will get here in time,” he replied, “Come on let's head to the office.”

 

Ten minutes later Kara was sitting on an exam bed in a hospital gown. She had been given some water to drink and on the tray next to the bed was a pregnancy test. Holly had taken Kara's temperature and pulse and drawn blood. They were waiting for the results of the test. But Kara knew as did Holly and Elliot. Holly had poured over the anatomy books Elliot had lent her but she had started with Kara's knowing that she would for sure be one of her patients. Like Elliot, she had met the other members of the community. Some of the women mentioned being more comfortable with a female doctor, some wanted to stay with Elliot since they knew him and the remaining were unsure. She learned of the symptoms Kara would experience and about the three month length of the pregnancy. From meeting with Kara she learned her menstrual cycles were irregular but since arriving here they had been as frequent as it was for a Kryptonian: every fifteen days. She'd had two since arriving and Holly knew that her most recent was supposed to have been ten days ago. Kara could be anywhere from two to four weeks pregnant which by human terms was six to twelve weeks.

Elliot stepped out of the exam room as someone had entered the lobby. He apologized to his new wife and mentioned he would be back soon.

“Kara, when was the last time you and Elliot had sex?” Holly asked. Kara blushed despite the fact that Holly had asked her this two weeks ago when they'd first formally met.

“We had sex last night, our ceremony was yesterday. But before that- we didn't have sex for a few days.”

“And before that?”

“At least once a night for a couple of weeks- sometimes more- usually more,” Kara said. And stating it out loud made her blush even more. She was an adult she reminded herself. But she didn't talk about sex with anyone.

“And your last period was supposed to be ten days ago?” Holly asked. Kara nodded. Holly pulled out a chart, it was a calendar. There were blue X's in the corners of a few dates. Kara noticed today was Valentine's day.

“Did you have sex on any of these days?” she asked handing it to her. Again, Kara nodded.

“All of them and here,” she said pointing to the Friday date, “more than once.” She flipped again and Kara saw the month of January. One of the dates Kara pointed to was marked with a blue X, the first night she and Elliot had sex.

“I could be wrong but I believe you're about three and a half weeks along which for humans is-”

“Ten and a half weeks- two and a half months.” She hadn't experienced any symptoms until now and she wasn't beginning to show. She wouldn't really look pregnant for another week or two. Her hand still flitted over her abdomen. Out of all the times she and Elliot had sex it was likely the first time that resulted in this pregnancy. The pregnancy test sat on a tray a plus sign confirming what they already knew but it lay forgotten. Holly started going over the symptoms she'd experience over the next two and a half months.

A three-month pregnancy, Holly couldn't believe it when she had read the anatomy book. She had traveled from a planet where the pregnancies were ten months in human time. She had read about the labor and delivery and she knew, despite Kara being Kryptonian, she had to prepare her for it. She wasn't used to the pain she'd experience and the time the delivery would take. She also knew that the pregnancy, though short, would be painful as well. Her body had not adapted to the process it was about to go through, not in that quick of a time.

There were testimonials in the back of the chapter. The pain experienced was worse than cramps during a menstrual cycle and after a certain point it was continuous. After the first pregnancy, the pain wasn't as difficult for later pregnancies. Holly wondered if Kara would be able to endure the pain of this pregnancy along with the pain of delivery the baby. Kara had confided in the doctor that women weren't just worried about having children on Krypton. Miscarriage could occur up to six weeks, once they passed the halfway point the baby was likely to survive but the mothers were also worried it would be the end of them. Women dying in childbirth was rare on Krypton and rarer on Argo she had told her. But it was still a deep-rooted fear than many couldn't shake. Holly gave her some pain medication, Tylenol, hoping it would help.

Elliot returned right after Holly finished a cervix exam. Kara's face determined what they thought back at their house. Once again Elliot pulled her into his arms. He would never say it but part of him was excited for a baby. He had always wanted a family but he knew that this was no place to raise a child. Their every move would be watched, their words would be censored, they would be restricted. And then the child would be expected to go through what him and Kara, along with around a ten other couples, were currently experiencing. Holly asked if they wanted to stay here and Kara shook her head. They would only receive looks in the morning, there would be gossip which she didn't want to face. After changing Holly told her patient she wanted to see her every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Both Kara and Elliot were taken aback at first but then Elliot remembered the toll the pregnancy would take on the woman standing next to him.

“We've complied,” Kara said about an hour later. The newlywed couple hadn't been able to fall asleep.

“Do you think we'll be rewarded?” she asked.

“Other couples have been given an extra newspaper, a basinet, or a meal from a favorite restaurant,” Elliot said. Those weren't anything either of them wanted though. He knew what she wanted. She wanted to see her sister again but Erie would never allow it. Their sleep was restless that night and Kara stayed home the following day. She sat writing in a new notebook, tears staining the page. On her computer she wrote about complying. She wrote that she was excited. She wrote that she couldn't wait to hold her newborn in her arms. This was a lie. Kara thought about Daria, the woman she had met at the pool nearly two months ago. She had given birth to a baby boy. She had conceived before Erie though. This baby was not born due to an order from an organization. Kara had met some of the other women who were pregnant. The ones she had met were hardly far along, the farthest being three months into an eleven month pregnancy. Some wanted children, they knew their partners before. But the others- the pregnancy was out of an obligation, out of fear for their families and identities outside this place.

She thought about Felicity. She was somewhat happier with her new partner. They hadn't slept together but they weren't swapping the bed and the couch. They were comfortable and that's all Felicity wanted it to remain. Kara sat looking down at the pregnancy test. A plus sign stared back at her. She thought of her mother and wished she was here. She had been under the control of Erie for two and a half months. Would her mother come looking for her? Would she end up here too? The thought made her sick.

 

“It's okay Cecilia,” Lois said trying to soothe the toddler.

“I miss mommy,” she said then repeated it in a language neither her nor Clark could understand.

“I know,” she said, “Don't worry. Uncle Clark and I are going to find her and your daddy.” Lois tucked in the girl about thirty minutes later and returned to her notes. Cat Grant had contacted her.

“You're close with Superman and I know you're working on finding his cousin,” she had said. “Cat, I'm already working on the story, I've made plenty of progress.”

“And she is still missing. Look I know who she is. And I care about her. I'm sure you know who Superman is. And I don't care right now. I care about his cousin. I care about Kara. And I want to help you find you. I'm going to help find her whether you like it or not.”

“Why should I trust you have her best interest at heart?”

“Because I haven't released her identity on the front cover of my magazine. Look does your friend in blue have anything about her whereabouts?”

“I'll tell him to come meet you.” Lois hung up the phone and relayed the conversation to Clark. He had gone to meet Cat Grant and there was now one more one more person trying to find his cousin.

 


	10. Phone Calls

One week had passed since the pregnancy test. There had been three visits since then. Kara had yet to experience any of the symptoms Holly had mentioned but she had read the pregnancy chapter in the anatomy book preparing herself like her mother had tried to. Elliot had returned to being social in the colony. She was as well but still reserved. No one else knew about her pregnancy. Elliot proposed to going to the pool the following morning before they went to sleep and she nodded.

“Your compliance has been rewarded,” Kara heard Tricia say. She opened her eyes. She was in the room again and was strapped to a chair. She could see Elliot, who was also strapped down. A man was next to him and Kara saw him holding a knife.

“Due to your compliance you have been rewarded a phone call,” Tricia said, “Say anything about us or where you are or about the Community and your child will be without their father.” Before Kara could say anything the number was dialed. And whoever it was picked up on the second ring.

“Hello?”

“Alex!” Kara said. Relief filled her veins only to be replaced with the knowledge she couldn't ask for help.

“Kara! Kara, where are you? What's going on?” Kara could picture the look of relief mixed with fear on her sister's face.

“I-I'm okay Alex. I'm okay. You have to stop looking for me,” Kara said, “Tell Kal-El to stop looking for me.”

“Kara, what's the matter? Who has you?”

“No one has me,” Kara lied biting back a cry.

“Tell her Kara!” Elliot called out, “Tell her about Erie-” but he was cut off as the blade was pressed into his neck.

“No! Stop! Don't hurt him! Please!” Kara cried tried to get her wrists out of the rope, “Please. Please stop! Stop. Elliot, Elliot!” She tried to reach for Elliot. The blade was pushed further and Kara saw blood start to trickle down his neck.

“No!” Kara cried out and screamed as Elliot's chair was pushed to the ground. She heard his head hit the pavement.

“Kara-” but the phone was hung up. Her ropes were undone and Kara crawled to Elliot. Please be alive she prayed. She began to undo his ropes.

“Elliot, Elliot,” Kara said but he didn't stir. Kara felt someone try to pull her away and she lashed out with her fists.

“Ah!” she screamed feeling a taser, “Kal-El! Kal-El!” Then her cousin crashed into the room. He had heard her long before she called his name. A beam of sunlight hit Kara in the face. She had missed the warmth the Earth-sun gave her and she felt her strength return. She finished undoing the ropes around her husband then turned to help her cousin fight. She felt no pain but knew her captors did. Normally she didn't relish in causing humans or aliens pain but this time it was different. She swiveled to look for Tricia and called her name out but the leader of Erie was gone. The men around them were all knocked out or worse. Kara's cousin pulled her into his arms.

“You're alive,” he breathed then pulled back looking her over.

“And you're-” he looked at Elliot who was still knocked out.

“He's my husband,” Kara said, “And I love him.”

“We have to go,” he said, “Come on.” Kara paused. Every cell in her body was screaming for her to go, to flee. This is what she had wanted. She wanted freedom. But she thought about everyone else in the colony.

“You found me once,” she said, “You can find me again. What day is it?”

“Kara,” Clark said then, “It's Saturday morning, early, the sun has just risen. Why?” They weren't far. Only a matter of hours had passed since being ripped from their bed.

“There are nearly two hundred and fifty people relying upon me, on you- trapped by Erie- Erie Syndicate. They created a colony for us. They're watching. They have rules. I- they'll be punished if we leave. We aren't far from here. A few hours drive at most. You can find us.”

“Kara we can find them- together. Alex is worried, everyone is worried. Kara, I couldn't hear your heartbeat.” She heard the footsteps of Erie's soldiers.

“You'll find me again. Do you have Cecilia?” she asked.

“She's safe,” he said, “Kara come with me.” He grabbed a hold of her arms as if he'd take her regardless of her answer. He knew she couldn't feel how hard he was holding onto her. He didn't want to let go. He wouldn't spend any more time worrying about the whereabouts of Kara.

“I love you, Kal-El,” the words spilled out in Kryptonese.

“El Myiarah, Kara,” Clark said in a last desperate attempt. She looked back at Elliot who was regaining consciousness. She kissed her cousin on the cheek.

“They have kryptonite, you have to go.”

“They won't bring it in here. Not with you being-”

“You don't know them. They'd kill you or reveal or identity or worse trap you with me. Lois needs you. Tell Alex I love her.” The door broke open and Clark flew up just as Kara began to shove him away from her. Clark was right, they didn't have kryptonite. So she fought, knocking out, possibly killing each person as they entered. Then Tricia entered holding a chunk of kryptonite and she fell to her knees. She felt Elliot attempt to push her behind him. He wasn't fully awake but did what he could. The look in Tricia's eyes was the worse she had seen and she had nearly managed to escape several times before. She took Kara's chin in her hands jerking her face up to look at her.

“Your cousin won't find you again,” she spat, “We'll be better at protecting you.”

“This isn't protection,” Kara said.

“Oh, child, if we let you go, the humans would kill you,” Tricia said, “We are giving you a chance to live. To thrive. That child growing in you deserves a mother. Do you really think Kara Danvers could raise a Kryptonian-Saturnian child on Earth? Masquerade them as human? I'm sure you remember trying to hide in Midvale, with Eliza?” Kara flinched.

“We don't want to harm your foster mother or your sister. Your cousin on the other hand-”

“Don't touch him! You're- you're a monster!” Tricia went to slap her and Elliot lunged himself at the woman. The Kryptonite flew from her hand to the corner of the room. Kara felt some strength return.

“Kara go! Get out of here!”

“Stupid boy! Your wife already had the chance,” Tricia laughed, “She's passed our test.” Kara looked up at the hole in the ceiling. She could catch Clark, she could find the colony but she thought of Elliot. They'd kill him for her- for their disobedience.

“They'll kill you,” Kara said. Soldiers removed Elliot from Tricia holding him back. He looked at his wife. She was glaring at Tricia. The woman moved forward and she looked at Kara's stomach. There was a slight bump beneath the tank top she wore. She went to touch it and Kara grabbed her wrist but Tricia only used this as a chance to pull Kara closer.

“I've become so proud of you sweetheart,” she said her voice sickly sweet, “So very proud.” She let go of Kara and turned away.

“We'll keep them here for a while. Then we'll return them to The Community,” Tricia ordered the guards leaving the couple once again in the dark.

 

Alex woke up hearing her phone ring. It was four in the morning. Who was calling her?

“Hello?” she asked answering the phone before it could ring again.

“Alex!” Kara said. Alex sat straight up.

“Kara! Kara, where are you? What's going on?” She began to pull on her boots planning to grab her car keys.

“I-I'm okay Alex. I'm okay. You have to stop looking for me,” Kara said, “Tell Kal-El to stop looking for me.” Who was Kal-El?

“Kara, what's the matter? Who has you?” Alex asked.

“No one has me,” Kara lied, she was far from okay.

“Tell her Kara!” a man called out, “Tell her about Erie-” but the man stopped talking.

“No! Stop! Don't hurt him! Please!” Kara cried, “Please. Please stop! Stop. Elliot, Elliot!” This Elliot was being tortured too. Maybe he was taken with her or they had formed a friendship while they suffered together. This must be the Elliot she had gone off with months ago.

“No!” Kara cried out and screamed and Alex heard the clattering of metal on pavement. Then there was a thud.

“Kara-” but the phone was hung up. She had never heard Kara cry out like that. She was afraid. She was terrified. Who was this Kal-El? Who was Elliot? And Erie what? Alex scribbled these down and called Lena. Unlike James and Colonel Hailey, she was worried about Kara and wanted to find her.

“Hello?” Lena asked, “Alex what's going on?”

“I heard from Kara.”

“What? Where is she? Is she okay?”

“I don't know,” Alex said tears spilling over her cheeks, “Someone has her. They're torturing her Lena. She's in trouble.”

 

Clark was staying up that night, as he did every other night, listening. The hope he had for his cousin being alive had dwindled. Lois had tried to comfort him as had his mother but he still felt like he had failed. He hadn't protected her. At three forty six in the morning Clark heard his cousin's heartbeat. He left his and Lois' home without warning. Her heartbeat was steady and unafraid but that changed in about fifteen minutes. He heard her talking with her sister and heard her scream. He heard her called out his name. He had found the compound she was in. A large building, an old factory. He crashed through the ceiling seeing Kara. In that moment he didn't see Supergirl but Kara Zor-El, the thirteen year old girl he pulled out of a pod. She was thinner and he could tell she hadn't seen the sun, her skin pale. She joined him in the fight then argued with him about leaving. Then she sent him away but he stayed close. Watching, listening, to her heartbeat, Elliot's and their fetus'.

He heard their threat against him and then Kara's response along with seeing Elliot tackle the woman. Three months. He hadn't heard anything for three months. Why had he been able to hear her heartbeat here? They must have wanted it. But why had they wanted it? How had they managed to block her heartbeat from him? And dampen her powers? Clark wanted to ask her all these questions though he doubted she knew the answers. He wanted to know about this colony she spoke of. It couldn't have been outside otherwise she'd have powers surely. Unless it was cloaked with some technology. Clark watched for a van above and below the ground. And he waited for three days. Kara and her husband were moved to a room lined in lead twenty hours after he had tried to escape with her. Ten hours after that he stopped hearing their heartbeats. And the next day van after van left the old factory. He followed them unable to see inside them. He spent another few days watching and waiting.

Erie had to be using some LuthorCorp technology Clark decided. But he knew Lena wasn't helping them. Kara had assured him again and again she wasn't like that. And at the moment she didn't know Kara's alien status. He had a feeling if she did she wouldn't be desperately looking for her with Alex. _Alex_. J'onn would have to return her memories if only to reassure her for a while. Colonel Hailey and the current president were not on a warpath anymore. They hadn't been for nearly a month but Alex wanted to know her identity. It was something she could focus on he figured. Clark stopped waiting and watching and returned to Lois.

He told her what happened falling apart.

“I've failed,” he said, “Lois she chose not to come with me. I should have just taken her.”

“You'll find her again. We know she's alive. Besides she would have fought you anyway.”

“There's something else I haven't told you,” he said.

“What is it Clark?”

“She's pregnant.” Lois paused. She had gotten to knosw Kara the past few years. And she didn't see her as someone who was ready to become a mother. Or someone who wanted that at the moment. Clark had mentioned her as being thinner a paler. She pictured her pregnant. The muscles she had due to her strength were gone. She pictured someone who was frail and scared. She pictured Kara when she was just a child. She had met her over ten years ago not long after she arrived. She had looked small against her cousin. Clark had called J'onn and he along with Lois and James sat in Alex's apartment waiting for her to come home. Alex returned and J'onn was ready to return her memories. But before he could do so Alex's phone rang. She answered it her hands shaking.

“Is this Alex Danvers?” a man asked.

“Yes, who is this?”

“I'm Sheriff Gaines,” the man said, “I'm the Sheriff of Millinocket, Maine. We've found your sister, Kara Danvers.”

“You found Kara?” Alex asked the breath suddenly knocked out of her lungs. Everyone in the room looked at each other and Clark listened for his cousin's heartbeat. He heard nothing.

“She walked into the town. She's shaken up and won't let any doctor examine her but she's alive.”

“Can I- can I speak to her?”

“Hello?”

“Kara,” Alex said.

“Alex, Alex I don't know how I got here.”

“It's okay, I'm going to come get you. I'm going to bring you home, okay?”

“Okay,” Kara said.

“Kara, you need to let the doctors examine you,” Alex said, “I'll be there soon.”

“Okay, Alex.” Then the young Kryptonian hung up on her sister.

“Kara was found- she's in Maine,” Alex said looking at the group of people. J'onn went to step forward but Clark stopped him.

“That's great Alex,” Clark said, “We came over to come up with a new plan but now we don't have to.”

“I should still return her memories,” J'onn said later that evening.

“No, Hailey could still be on the warpath to finding out Supergirl's identity,” Clark said, “Besides whoever Alex spoke to- it wasn't her sister.”

“What do you mean?” James asked.

“I still can't hear her heartbeat.”

 

 

*Sarah Paulson portrays Tricia


	11. Pandemic

“I can't believe you didn't leave with Kal-El,” Elliot said, “We could be far away from here.”

“And what about the others?” Kara asked not masking her bitter tone, “If we had left they would have been punished. Who knows what Erie would have done.”

“You had another chance to leave,” Elliot said.

“They would have killed you,” Kara said.

“But you would have-”

“No! We're in this together just like we have been from the beginning. If I had left with my cousin- Erie wouldn't have hesitated to punish everyone on our behalf. We know what they're capable of.”

“They're still going to punish us,” Elliot said.

“It doesn't seem like they need a reason,” Kara said. They had this conversation more than once. It was one of the first things he brought up when they were brought into this room. She looked around the room they were in. It was encased in lead but for the moment Kara could still feel her powers. She was floating a few inches off the floor her eyes on the door. Elliot sat looking up at his wife. They were still in the clothing they had gone to sleep in the other night. It could be Wednesday for all they knew. Food came occasionally. There were no windows to know if it was day or night. Kara could hear her cousin's heartbeat. He was still outside, waiting and watching. She prayed that they didn't take him too. Every so often the couple was separated. Occasionally Elliot was removed from the room and sometimes she was. Every time though Tricia came to visit her. Kara lost count at how often they were together and how often they weren't.

“How did you manage to escape? Before?” Elliot asked one night or morning.

“I've trained under kryptonite lights. It's not as strong as the real stuff. Getting out of the restraints was the easy part. I had to get out of the room I was in- they placed me in a new one each time. I killed guards each time, took their weapons. I'd find a way to get the guard into my room, knock them out and shoot them with their own weapon. Each time I had to find my way through this maze of halls. I didn't take time to stop and listen to conversations, I searched for a window. On my third attempt I found one. But the sun was pointless- they had these dampeners surrounding the building. There are ones on this island that alien immigrants go to.” Kara took a sip out of a water glass. They had been supplied with two cups and a pitcher full of water every so often.

“The first time I rounded maybe two corners before I was caught. Each time I was- I was punished. Tricia would come in afterwards and clean me up. She presented herself as this caring nurse. She wiped my angry tears away and combed my hair as if my appearance mattered. The second time I got even farther, killed more guards too, and again I was punished. Once more Tricia came in and cleaned my wounds but she was present in the room during my beating. I'm sure she watched the first one too. She intervened though, stopping them and in the process was hit.”

_“Kara, sweetheart, this can all stop,” she said, “All we want is cooperation. Compliance will be rewarded. Resistance will result in punishment.”_

_“I won't stop resisting. Ever. I will never go to your community. I will never comply.”_

_“You can't resist forever Kara. You'll end up dead.”_

_“Good, then you and your organization won't have satisfaction.” Tricia scowled but quickly smiled. She ran her hand along Kara's face who flinched._

_“You don't mean that,” she responded._

_“All you have to do is stop this nonsense. All this pain will end. Don't you want that Kara?”_

_“I won't stop fighting,” Kara snapped._

_“Oh, sweetheart,” Tricia responded,“this isn't fighting.”_

“The third and last time I escaped I made it to what I think was a door out. I managed to open it but before I could see out I was knocked out. I woke up strapped to a bed and Tricia was the only one there. _“Kara, darling, I thought we discussed you stopping this nonsense.”_ It ended with a threat to Alex. They showed me photos. One more act of resistance and they'd kill her.”

Kara didn't mention the details of the abuse Elliot noticed but he had seen them when she had first arrived. There were bruise marks, healing wounds from a whip, marks from a taser and marks made from someone carving into her skin. He had a feeling the small amount of time she was in the sun recently healed them, the marks completely gone at least in a physical sense.

“Gilina is going to want to speak to us after this,” Elliot said and Kara gave a hollow laugh.

“All she's going to learn is I care more about people than I do myself,” Kara said.”

“Have you seen her since...”

“No, well in passing yes. I've spent a lot of time talking to people. But that's my job,” Kara said, “If they find I out I didn't escape when I could...”

“They're going to be grateful you got the message out,” Elliot said.

“That's not how you reacted.”

“Well, they aren't your husband.”

“He offered to take us both,” Kara said, “I wanted to leave. I really did. But all of the others. All of the kids. I don't think Erie would have burned it to the ground but Rao, would they have made their life hell.” Hours or days passed and eventually the couple was transported out of the factory. They threatened with killing Elliot if Kara tried to fly away. Or tried to take him with her. Elliot looked at her, telling her it was okay but she remained by his side.

Then they were back in the colony. They had been held for a week and they were instantly taken to the medical office. The office was packed. Kara looked around at the people. They were all sick.

“What's going on?” she asked.

“Erie released some illness into the colony didn't they?” Elliot asked.

“The morning you guys were gone,” Holly said, “The first patient was admitted around eight that morning. Whatever this is, it's quick.”

“Has anyone died?” Kara asked.

“No, not yet,” Holly said, “Elliot are you okay to help?”

“Yes, I'll see you tonight,” he said kissing Kara on her temple before leaving the office.

“You'll only be here for a few minutes and then you should go,” Holly said.

“I can stay and help.”

“No. Not in your condition,” Holly said, “Besides you need rest. What did they do to you?”

“Erie doesn't sound so great now does it?” Kara asked not responding with an answer.

“They didn't mention their punishments when they spoke with us. They told us most of the people in the community were here voluntarily save for some spouses and children.”

“Why did you trust them?”

“The abuse some in our group suffered at the hands of humans...If someone offered you salvation from that would you not take it?” Holly looked at the ultrasound of the fetus. Kara did not. She had still not accepted that she was growing life inside of her. She was beginning to show but a baggy sweatshirt hid it which was what she had been wearing when they arrived. Had she worn something form fitting everyone would be able to tell.

“How's the pain level?” Holly asked. The symptoms hadn't affected her when she was locked up, her powers shielding her from pain. However despite being back only an hour the pain was back.

“I've been through worse,” Kara said.

“Kara,” Holly said, “I want to help you and to help I need you to tell me how much pain you're in.”

“Seven,” Kara said. She had been masking the pain since returning.

“Don't hide your pain,” Holly said, “Here's some sleeping medication. It won't help with the pain but you'll be able to sleep. This is for the pain. It shouldn't cause any harm to the baby.” Holly handed her a vial of liquid. Kara didn't bother asking what it was. She figured it was something from Holly's home planet. Kara returned home and went to sleep just as Holly had told her to. When she woke up Elliot was still at the medical office. He was there until the following morning. He returned home to shower and change.

“No one is allowed to go out,” he said, “But if you start experiencing any symptoms you need to come in.” Elliot then listed the symptoms: fever, dizziness, fatigue, throat irritation, nausea, loss of consciousness.

“It sounds like the flu,” Kara said.

“If it is it's a bad strain. But Holly isn't sure. Influenza doesn't usually result in loss of consciousness. It could be the flu but mixed with something else. There's no telling what Erie has done. I don't think their goal is fatalities. They want to scare us into submission. Holly will be stopping by in a few days to check in on you.” He didn't say when he'd be back but Kara saw him pack a bag.

So much for protection she thought hearing Tricia's voice in her head.

 

_“Oh, sweetheart. I'm sorry I have to do this to you,” Tricia said. Kara struggled strapped to the bed. Tricia pushed a few strands of hair away off of Kara's face._

_“You don't have to do this,” Kara said fear in her voice, “Please.”_

_“You haven't given us much of a choice darling,” Tricia said._

_“Please,” Kara cried feeling the knife cut into her skin._

_“We just want what's best for you. We just want to protect you,” Tricia said. Kara screamed as the blade went deeper._

_“Shhh,” Tricia cooed, “This will end when you want it to.” She went to wipe a tear off of Kara's cheek and the Kryptonian spat on her._

_“Get away from me,” she hissed. Tricia wiped away the spit. This wasn't new._

_“Now Kara,” Tricia said, “That wasn't very nice.” She pressed the taser into Kara's side and she convulsed. The torture went on for longer and eventually her vision darkened. She started to pass out._

_“No, sweetheart,” Tricia said, “Don't sleep just yet.” The straps were undone and Kara felt herself being lifted off the table. Her arm was thrown around Tricia's shoulder as she supported the alien wrapping her arm around Kara's waist. Run. Run. Push her away and run. But Kara only stumbled. Tricia tightened her grip. Then Kara vomited what little food was in her stomach._

_“It's okay darling,” Tricia said rubbing her back, “You're okay.” Why keep up this act? Why bother? You don't care. But she didn't asked this. She never asked this. This was all a game to her. She saw herself as their mother, their caretaker, their savior._

_“I have something to show you,” she said walking Kara out of the room. Kara's feet dragged on the floor and she tried her best to watch where Tricia was taking her. They ended up in a room with monitors. Her eyes widened when she saw what was on the screens. Alex._

_“Yes, we know all about your sister Kara,” Tricia said._

_“You may not care about your protection but I'm sure you care about hers.” Kara felt her knees buckle and she slumped to the floor._

_“I'll do what you want. Just don't hurt her,” Kara said her voice barely above a whisper._

_“Will you comply?” Tricia asked. Kara nodded tears spilling._

_“Will you comply?” she asked again._

_“Yes.”_

_“Good,” Tricia responded, “Let's get you cleaned up then you can head to The Community.”_

 

At night memories of her torture plagued her sleep. During the day Kara stayed in the house waiting for news from Elliot. She had gone out a couple of times but no one was out unless they were at the medical center. There hadn't been any fatalities just like Elliot had predicted. But he did end up getting sick and Kara refused to leave his side. When his fever spiked one night Kara began to fear if he would get better.

“Elliot you can't leave yet,” Kara said, “Don't leave me here alone. Please.” Holly had to revive him twice. He was the only one who had reacted this bad to the illness. This wasn't just to scare the people of the colony, this was to punish her and Elliot for their resistance. To teach them they should fear Erie.

“If this kills him I will do everything in my power to get out of here. And when I do I will not stop until everyone in your organization is dead,” Kara said. She knew they were listening.

“Tricia, this isn't protection. Protection doesn't end in death.” But Elliot survived, then Kara got sick. Holly treated her as Elliot finished recovering at home. Kara lived, but the fetus did not. When she was told she didn't know how to react. She hadn't accepted that she was pregnant despite the growing belly and hearing the heartbeat. She didn't know if she was supposed to feel sad or relieved. This is what she told Gilina. She also told her about what had happened when they were taken out of the colony but not all of it. She didn't tell her of refusing the chance of being able to escape. She didn't tell her of the arguments her and Elliot had. Still had. At the end of the first meeting Kara pulled the woman into a hug and whispered that Cecilia was safe with her cousin. Meetings were held three times a week now.

 

Alex stepped off the plane with Clark, Kara's cousin behind her. An officer met them at the airport and drove them to the sheriff's house.

“She's been staying with Sheriff Gaines and his family,” the officer said.

“Kara!” Alex called entering the home. Then she saw her sister. She wore jeans and a large sweatshirt that hung loosely on her small frame. Alex pulled Kara into a hug.

“Where have you been? When you called you sounded so scared and...”

“I- I don't remember Alex,” Kara said looking down tears gathering in her eyes.

“No, no it's okay,” Alex said, “It's okay. It doesn't matter. Let's go home. Everyone misses you.”

“Clark!” Kara said hugging her cousin. He hugged her back, listening to her heartbeat. It was quicker than usual and he also noticed she was no longer pregnant. But she looked and sounded like his cousin. No, Kara wouldn't have left without Elliot. She wouldn't have left all of those people. And she was nowhere near Maine when he had found her. This couldn't be his cousin.

 


	12. Separation

“Kara what else happened when you and Elliot were held together? Were you ever separated?” Gilina asked. Kara was grateful she didn't ask about the miscarriage. Elliot was more upset than she was. Or Kara was better at hiding it.

“I lost count how many times they separated us,” Kara said, “Did you ever meet Tricia?” Gilina looked at the camera.

“She's watching,” Kara said, “For some reason I'm of interest to her. I don't know why.”

“I didn't try fighting her like you did,” Gilina said, “But I only met her briefly. She sends correspondence.” Kara looked at the therapist.

“She wants you to ask certain questions,” Kara stated and looked at the camera.

“Did she visit you when you were separated? Or take you away?”

“With kryptonite in hand,” Kara said bitterly, “She wouldn't dare trying to take me on without it.”

“She's scared of you.”

“I threatened to kill her.”

“Doesn't sound like Supergirl.”

“Supergirl hasn't seen the light of day in months. Erie killed her. She's gone.”

“She won't return after this is over?”

“Even if we get out of here you think they'll let her return? My name will be splashed across headlines before they'd let that happen.”

“When did you threaten to kill her?” There was no why, they all knew why and Kara along with Gilina knew many would attempt to take her life if they had the chance.

“The first time she separated us.”

 

_Elliot had dozed off while Kara watched. She heard the door creak open then a yell of pain. Kara had used her heat vision._

_“I told you that you have to use this first,” Kara heard Tricia snap. Then Kara fell to the ground trying not to scream. She felt Elliot pull her away from the door._

_“Grab her,” Tricia ordered and Kara was torn away from Elliot._

_“Let her go!” Elliot said but he was knocked out by two of the soldiers._

_“Elliot!” she called attempting to twist to look at him. He was slumped on the floor. Despite the pain, she fought the men holding her. They only held on tighter. She was escorted into a room with bright lights, they hovered over a bed. She was strapped onto the bed but not before she had kicked one of the guards in the groin. He doubled over in pain but before Kara could try to get out of the restraints she felt someone tighten them. Tricia._

_“Get away from me,” Kara growled._

_“Now Kara,” Tricia said, “You haven't forgotten to cooperate have you?” Kara felt a strap go across her forehead forcing her to look up at the fluorescent lights. Something cold pressed against her chest. A stethoscope._

_“Oh sweetheart you don't need to be scared,” Tricia said._

_“When did you earn your medical degree?” Kara spat._

_“Why do you think I'm so interested in cross-species breeding?” Her hand moved over Kara's stomach._

_“Get your hands off me!” Kara jerked and she felt the woman's hand fall away._

_“Oh, Kara darling I'm not going to harm you.”_

_“I'm not your darling or your sweetheart,” Kara said, “And when I have the opportunity I will kill you.”_

_“Now, that's not very nice,” Tricia said her voice cold, “I only want what's best for you Kara. You know that. Have you not been safe in The Community? No one is trying to hurt you there.”_

_“No one there is safe,” Kara said, “You are just playing a sick, twisted game. Lives are not a game for you to play with. We aren't some toys in a dollhouse. We are not yours to control.”_

_“Control? Sweetheart, we're not controlling you. All your actions are yours alone. We didn't force you to have sex. We didn't force this pregnancy on you. You simply complied.”_

_“You've done so well, my child,” she said placing her hand on Kara's cheek. She tried to turn and bite but was unable to do so._

_“Now, let's look at how this baby is developing,” she said. She lifted Kara's tank top up further revealing the small baby bump._

_“I've been checking over Holly's notes,” she said, “If you were a human woman you'd be about fifteen weeks along.” Kara heard the heartbeat over the machine as Tricia ran the ultrasound detector over her stomach. She had closed her eyes not wanting to see the screen._

_“Oh darling,” Tricia said soothingly. She turned off the machine and brushed her fingers through Kara's hair._

_“It's just nerves,” she said, “When you're holding that baby in your arms--”_

_“You'll only rip it away.”_

_“Now, that's just ridiculous,” she said._

_“You don't know how many lives you have ruined,” Kara said._

_“Kara, you need to remain calm,” Tricia said._

_“How can you tell me to remain calm? When you killed Robert's father? Left a child separated from her parents?” Kara's voice had gone up an octave._

_“Shhh,” Tricia cooed, “This will help calm you, sweetheart.” She felt the injection and her world faded._

 

Tears were spilling down her cheeks. She hadn't told Elliot the details of her visits with Tricia but he knew not to ask seeing her face when she returned each time.

“I didn't- I don't want a baby,” Kara said, “It's not supposed to hurt.” Gilina handed her a box of tissues and Kara wiped away her tears.

“Does Elliot know?” Kara shook her head but he still held her when she woke up screaming for Tricia to get away from her.

“Have you thought about telling him?”

“I could have prevented this,” Kara replied, “I could have left with Kal-El. We both could have.”

“What do you think would have happened if you both had left?”

“They would have punished all of you,” Kara said reassuring herself on why she stayed.

“They scared us, that's all,” Gilina said but they both knew that wasn't true. The voluntary group blamed the Venus Park group. There was tension and Kara didn't think it'd be going away any time soon.

“You probably have a patient arriving soon,” Kara said, “I should go.”

“You have my entire-” but Kara was already standing up. Her vision blurred and she swayed.

“Easy,” Gilina said sitting her back down on the couch. She pressed a button near her chair summoning one of the doctors.

“I'm fine, just a little light-headed,” Kara said pressing her palms against her eyes and forehead. She hadn't eaten that morning.

“Gilina, what's wrong?” Kara heard Elliot ask.

“Kara!” she felt his hands on her face than on her wrists.

“I'm fine,” she said, “I didn't eat this morning.”

“Your blood sugar is probably low,” he said, “I will be right back.” He left only to return a moment later with a monitor and a juice box. Kara saw the guilt in his eyes as he waited for the monitor to read her blood sugar. He ordered her to drink the juice as he scribbled down the number: 90, not too low for humans but dangerous for Kryptonians. Kara downed the juice box and there was a knock on the door. She swiveled to see Holly. The doctor looked surprised to see Kara, pale and shaking.

“Elliot, one of your patients needs to see you,” she said after a pause.

“They can wait,” he said, “Or they can see you.”

“They refuse to see me,” she said.

“Go, you can't leave them waiting,” Kara said. Elliot opened his mouth to reply.

“I'll stay with her,” Holly said.

“I'll be fine,” Kara said reassuring her husband, “I'll see you tonight. Go.” He left and Holly kneeled in front of Kara.

“What happened?” she asked swiping a thermometer across Kara's forehead.

“Her blood sugar's low said she hadn't eaten,” Gilina said, “I'll leave you to it.” Then it was Kara and the doctor alone.

“Do you know where you are?”

“Gilina's office.”

“And your name?” she asked.

“Kara Zor-El, last daughter of Krypton.”

“You haven't eaten today?” she asked. Kara nodded biting her lip.

“Are you nauseous?” she shook her head.

“Wasn't hungry.”

“All day?” Holly asked noticing the tear streaks on her patient's cheeks, “I may not be a therapist like Gilina but you can still tell me what's going on. What happened the week you were gone?”

“That doesn't have anything to do with not being hungry,” Kara said, “Besides you can just ask Tricia.” Kara saw the woman flinch at her last comment. She hadn't asked her doctor if she had met the woman. She wondered if Holly knew she was a doctor. She wondered if Holly knew why Tricia was so fascinated with her. She hadn't saved her. She didn't recognize her face. Maybe she had saved a family member of her's or hadn't saved. Or maybe Kal-El had rescued her and she was just interested in Kryptonians. She was studying them kind of like Elliot was but his study was done out of health reasons, he just happened to document research while doing his job as a doctor.

“I have spoken with her, after the outbreak,” Holly said and she looked at the camera.

“What she did was dangerous. We shouldn't have come here,” she said, “The others will learn that soon. And they won't want to stay.” Kara looked up at the doctor. Her language bordered on rebellion. Before she said anything else the woman grabbed Kara's hand and pricked her finger.

“Have you told Elliot?” Holly asked pushing up her sleeve. There was a small bump on the inside of Kara's forearm. One of the times she was removed from the room she was knocked out and when she woke up the implant was there. They had put her in a sweatshirt, Tricia was giving her a choice on whether to tell her husband. Holly had found it when Kara was sick having been to help her into a hospital gown. Kara had managed to hide it from Elliot for the past week.

“If he removes it they'll just put another one in,” Kara said and the monitor beeped.

“You still think it's a GPS tracker?” Holly asked looking at the monitor, “Your blood sugar is back up. You still need to go eat.”

“It hasn't caused me any pain...” Kara said, the word _yet_ hung in the air between them.

“If it does, come see me. We'll remove it. Tricia be damned.” the last sentence was said in a language Kara couldn't understand but she guessed the words that came out of the doctor's mouth.

 

Elliot returned home early that night. Kara had changed into a sweater and yoga pants and she was eating dinner. He didn't ask her why she hadn't been eating. He had left early in the morning and arrived home late. The pair had done their best to keep busy and being in the house together, alone resulted in an uncomfortable silence between them. Hours later in bed Elliot wrapped his arms around Kara.

“I'm sorry,” he said but Kara didn't respond. Didn't know how to. Had she made the choice to leave they'd both be safe? She would still be pregnant but Erie wouldn't be in control. However, she knew this wasn't true. They would always be in control. Elliot knew this too but Kara still felt like he blamed her for the miscarriage.

“They would have hurt so many people,” Kara finally said.

“I know.”

“I can take the pain.”

“You shouldn't. Not alone.” But she didn't want him to be hurt either. She felt the implant in her arm and tears spilled out. She kept it a secret. To protect him. If it was a GPS tracker maybe Brainy could track it, find her, find all of them.

 

 


	13. Arguments

“James come on, we're going to be late for the party Alex is throwing for Kara,” Lena said.

“I'm coming,” he said. Clark had mentioned his concerns with everyone else but even James was suspicious of his friend's theory. He had met with Kara a few days ago and while he was worried for her he believed that it was Kara. She said she didn't remember what happened and refused J'onn's help. But she said she wanted to get back to work and get back to being Supergirl. This was forbidden not just by him but by Clark. His reasons were due to the fact that he didn't think she was ready yet, that whatever she went through she needed to process it. Clark's reasons were obvious. “She'll ruin all Kara has worked for,” he had said.

“She's so thin,” Lena said to James that evening looking at her best friend.

“Alex thinks that she was being tortured.”

“She called me,” Lena said, “But clearly Kara managed to escape.”

“Kara refuses to talk about it,” James said, “She just wants to get back to normal.”

“She'll remember eventually,” Lena said, “Kara can't keep it bottled up forever. And we'll be her to help her.” James looked at the Kryptonian. Alex had her arm around her sister. She had been staying with Kara since her return and she didn't push to hear about what Kara went through. Clark was wrong. Kara had been through something traumatic, that was why she was different. Lena ended up leaving the dinner early having to take care of something at the lab.

“Kara, what about Elliot?” Clark asked, “And the others? What happened to them?” Kara and her cousin were in a corner of the apartment while Alex was getting another drink.

“What others? Clark, I don't know what you're talking about.”

“What about Elliot then? He's your husband. You said you loved him.”

“Elliot? Elliot who? And husband? I'm not married.” Clark was getting annoyed at the woman in front of him. This wasn't Kara.

“What are we talking about?” Alex asked and Clark stepped away, “Just letting her know what she missed while she was gone.”

“J'onn, I need you to read her mind,” Clark said.

“Clark, I'm not doing that.”

“That's not Kara.”

“And if it is? I can't root around in her head. You need proof. Listen, why don't you focus on finding where the other aliens were held. You said the reason she refused to leave was because of them right? Find them and if she's among them we'll deal with this imposter.”

“Don't let her take up the job of being Supergirl while I'm gone.”

 

Elliot sat eating and watching his wife stir her cereal.

“Kara,” he said. She looked up.

“Did you see what they did to Holly?” she asked. Holly had been taken in the middle of the night only to be returned beaten and bruised a few days ago.

“Resistance will be punished,” she said bitterly.

“She's back to work,” Elliot said.

“We could fight from the inside,” she said.

“They'd kill you,” he said, “Or worse.”

“We're dead to the world anyway,” Kara spat, “You've seen the headlines. Children of Liberty is what's headlining. They've succeeded. I could have stopped them.”

“Your cousin still could.”

“He's been too busy looking for me,” Kara said, “I should have told him to stop them first- that'd I'd find a way out.” Elliot almost said she had a way out but hadn't used it. He didn't because he knew had she done so everyone in the colony would have been punished. Robbie would have been removed, maybe killed like his father. The Guard would have suffered despite having not been able to prevent it. Some of the children would have been separated from their parents. Tricia would have released her wrath on her research project. And she would have punished Kara, releasing her secret to the world. Even when- if this ended he knew Kara probably wouldn't take up the mantle of Supergirl. She had told him as much.

“She's dead,” she had said, “They killed her.”

Elliot made Kara a smoothie and dumped her cereal as she had refused to eat it. He was angry at himself for not noticing. They had all lost weight since living in the colony. Erie only supplied so much food. They were expected to be able to grow their own food soon enough. Erie had to be funded by someone. The food and the electricity and the plumbing added up. Would Kal-El be able to find Erie through their expenditures?

“I can stay home today.”

“Don't you have patients to see?”

“No, no one has scheduled a visit.” Kara sipped her smoothie. She hadn't gone to work the past few days and no one had said anything against it. There were other reporters if that's what they could be called. Kara wondered what position she would have been given if she was taken while she was an assistant or if she had become a marine biologist how they could translate that into a job here.

“If you had left- if we had left- they would have caused so much pain.”

“When Alex found out I chose to stay...” Kara said, “She's going to be so angry.”

“With everything you've told me I think she'll understand.”

“She'd be suspicious of you,” Kara said, “I bet Kal told her you were my husband.”

“You told him we were married?”

“He figured out I was pregnant. And, though I've been living on Earth for over ten years there was this deep seeded Kryptonian instinct to defend it.”

“That and he probably thought it was Erie's doing.”

“In a way it was... do you think your family is worried? You haven't emailed in months.”

“Yes and no,” Elliot replied, “They know about my work and that I get busy. Besides they're probably too occupied with my brother. They are- were probably so mad when they found out he eloped. They'll be the gossip of the neighborhood for a while. It could have died down by now.”

“If Lois had grabbed your laptop I bet she'd have found a way to contact them,” Kara said.

“Erie took it,” Elliot said despite knowing for sure, “They know everything about us.”

“Not everything. They can't know ours thoughts, our feelings,” Kara said.

“I should stay,” Elliot said, “Holly will understand.”

“It's not going to change anything,” Kara said.

“It's my fault,” Elliot said, “I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-”

“Stop. This is Erie's doing,” Kara said, “They want us to forget that. They want us to think they've saved us. When all they've done is isolate us.” Elliot looked at Kara and at her smoothie. She had finished it.

“Do you think it'll get better?” he asked. Gone was the positive Elliot of the past few months. Kara shrugged. She didn't know.

“Maybe. Maybe not,” she said, “We're trapped here. The only way it can get better is if we get out of here. This isn't home. It will never be home. No matter how hard Erie has tried to make it.”

“We have to trust Kal-El will find us,” Elliot said.

“We have to start trying to get out. The others will join us.”

“Tricia will punish you.”

“I'm tired of her controlling us. Controlling me. Had I left before- she would have punished everyone but she did anyway. It doesn't matter.”

“The others aren't going to- not after what they did to Holly.”

“Hope is stronger than fear. Tricia knows that, she fears hope. Besides the second I can just a small amount of sunlight-”

“They have kryptonite Kara.”

“Then I won't let them close enough-”

“How are you planning to fight inside here?”

“Start small. Refuse to obey their rules- curfew, talk of rebellion, we won't give in to their demands.”

“They'll cut off our food.”

“The crop is almost ready. Besides we have enough in storage.”

“And if they cut off our water supply?”

“I refuse to be their prisoner anymore!” Kara said standing up.

“And you think Tricia cares what any of us wants? If we don't obey her rules, she will make this worse. Kal-El is looking and I'm sure so are others. We just have to wait-”

“We can't keep having the same argument over and over again,” Kara said going to sit on the couch. Elliot sat next to her. Like Kara he was frustrated with arguing about the same thing over and over.

“I guess the honeymoon phase is over,” he said and Kara laughed. Elliot ran his fingers through Kara's hair, she had been wearing it up recently but today the soft curls fell past her shoulders. Then he pressed his lips to hers. Kara was hesitant at first. They'd hardly touched the past few weeks. Their wedding night had only been three weeks ago. Most couples, Kara thought, would still be in their honeymoon phase. On Krypton the honeymoon would still be happening. New wives wouldn't hesitate at moments like this. She kissed him back but pulled away a moment later.

“I- we're only doing what Erie wants,” Kara said.

“I'm not kissing you because Erie paired us up,” Elliot said, “Besides we kissed before this situation. And none of our... relations have been because of them.” Kara ran her fingers through her hair pushing it away from her face.

“Hey, what's this?” he grabbed Kara's arm looking at the bulge beneath the skin. The sleeve of her sweatshirt had slipped revealing her arms. Kara went to tear her arm away but he had a firm grasp.

“Erie, they- I don't know when, I think it's a GPS or something. Not like it's needed.”

“Kara we need to remove this.”

“They'll only replace it. The next time I leave here it's going to because we're all leaving.”

“You can't leave something like this in your body.”

“It's probably a GPS. And if it is maybe Brainy can track it and find us.”

“If he doesn't know about it he won't be able to find us. And besides it's not like Erie needs to put a tracking device in it's prisoners. They know we can't get out. We need to get this out of you.”

“Elliot. It's not causing any harm.”

“And when it does it could be too late to do anything. You really want something that Tricia is a part of inside of you?” No. But Kara figured they would just replace it. They would remove her from the colony and who knows how long they'd keep her away. Or worse Tricia would come here and perform the operation herself. And it wasn't like she or Elliot could stop them, they had removed them before. Neither of them had woken when they were taken from their home.

“And if we remove it and I wake alone in a lead lined room? Or Tricia comes here? Or someone else is punished?”

“We can worry about that later. And when we take it out we can examine it. Figure out what it is and learn more about Erie. We could use it to find a way out.”

“It's not a bomb Elliot. It hasn't caused me any pain. It-”

“Yet! Kara. It hasn't caused you any pain yet! This shouldn't be a discussion,” Elliot sighed running his hands through his hair. Kara pushed her sleeve back down.

“We should go see Holly. They could have put what ever this is into her too. This is just another way of controlling us. You said you're tired of them controlling you but you're allowing it by refusing to remove this. By refusing to fight.”

“You said you didn't want to fight. That we couldn't fight. If fighting means removing this I will but I'm not going to stop fighting. And I'll never stop fighting until we get out of here.” Kara was standing up now. She was tired of their arguing. And when they weren't arguing there was silence. This wasn't supposed to be what their relationship was like. She pictured them having a relationship outside the colony. Coming home in her Supergirl uniform as he put dinner on the table. She pictured game nights. She pictured Alex grilling him with questions, unsure if he was good enough for her sister. She pictured introducing him to her mom, taking him to Argo. She pictured Lena looking through his research. She pictured them happy, normal. Then she heard Tricia's voice. _“You really think Kara Danvers could raise a Kryptonian-Saturnian child on Earth?”_ she had said. But had they the choice a child wouldn't be something thought of for years. Marriage wouldn't have been rushed.

“Hey, hey, I'm sorry,” Elliot said wrapping his arms around Kara, “If we start fighting they're just going to find ways to punish us. No one wants that. Look what they did to Holly. And Robert. They'll leave us alone if we don't do anything. If they really want to treat this like a research project they'll stop interfering. But we really should remove whatever this is.” He pushed up Kara's sleeve revealing the bump beneath her arm. Kara nodded and only a moment later her eyes closed as she began to convulse.

“Kara!” Elliot said laying her down. She stopped and he lifted her up taking her the medical office. Other members of the colony watched as Elliot carried Kara.

“What happened?” Holly asked as her took her into the exam room.

“Tricia put something in her arm. And because you've examined her I'm sure you knew about it. Just, remove it.”

“Elliot I-”

“She seized. And I'm positive this is the cause of it. If it's not- they could have kryptonite somewhere near or something worse could be going on.”

“Kryptonite is the worst for her Elliot. Long exposure shuts down her immune system.” She made Elliot leave the room while she removed what was in Kara's arm. There was no kryptonite surrounding it but it wasn't a GPS like Kara had suggested. Kara eventually woke up and to Elliot's relief didn't suffer from any negative effects from the previous seizure. The next couple of days he stayed home to watch her while also studying the device that was in her arm.

 


	14. Found

Elliot brought in the newspaper as Kara pulled up a movie to watch. It was raining outside so the couple was stuck inside. He told her she should pause the movie and handed her the paper. She looked at one of the headlines and looked back up at Elliot.

“But I wasn't found- I'm right here. This must be J'onn or some other shapeshifter.” She thrust the paper back towards at her husband.

“Maybe it's fake. Maybe Erie decided to give us fake newspapers from now on.” Elliot sat next to Kara.

“But if it's real... what if there's a shapeshifter posing as me? Elliot that means no one will look for us.”

“Or it's Erie trying to make you comply. This is their punishment for removing whatever that device is.” No one had figured out what it was but only a few members of the colony were willing to try. Kara looked down at the paper and read the entirety of the article. It was written by Lois. There was no mention of Erie Syndicate or where 'Kara' had been the past few months. Mainly she was found in Maine and was happy to be home with her family. She read it over and over hoping to see if there was a message Lois was trying to send but couldn't figure anything out. She scowled at the article, there was even a photograph of this Kara and Alex.

“She looks just like you,” Elliot said.

“No! No she doesn't.”

“Kara, I know what you look like. I've seen you everyday for the past few months. She looks like you. But what you look like doesn't determine who you are, Alex will figure out it's not you. Hell- Kal-El probably knows by now. The date of this paper means she was found about a week ago.” Alex would figure it out. Especially when they started talking and this Kara knew nothing about growing up in Midvale or anything about Krypton.

“You're right, Alex will figure it out. We just need to wait. Wait. Rao, I hate waiting.”

“Are there any prayers that could help?” Elliot asked. Kara had told him about her faith and how she hid her time of prayer from Alex and Eliza when she was young. And how it wasn't until about a year ago she had started praying regularly.

“I need to find a candle,” Kara said standing up. She went in search of a candle and a box of matches. She managed to find one and sat it down on coffee table only to pick it back up once she lit it. She motioned for Elliot to kneel next to her.

“Though we go forth alone, our soul unites us under Rao's gladsome rays. We're never lost, never afraid, for we shrink not under the Sun of Righteousness. Rao binds us to those we love. He gives us strength when we have none. And in the darkest places, he guides us. For Rao sees all, feels all. His love eternal. Rao, protect us, so that we might protect others. And we shall rise, a fire in His heart, burning and free.” Elliot repeated the prayer with her line after line then she repeated it but in Kryptonese. He stumbled over the language that she had slowly begun to teach him. He had been teaching her his language but it was similar to English unlike what she had grown up speaking. They had done there best to converse in the original tongues so as not to be understood by Erie. She blew out the candle and wrapped her arms around him thanking him.

The next few days passed slowly. Kara and Elliot both went to work. But one morning when they woke no lights turned on. Their television had been removed as had their fridge and electric oven. The fridge and oven had been replaced by an ice box and gas stove. Erie had stopped giving their small community electricity. Maybe Lois had tracked their bill. On the dining table lay a box of candles, lanterns and a pair of radios. In the office building the power was still on, though only in a few places: the medical office, pharmacy, and the security office. The recreational center would only be open on weekends. The restaurants would only be available in the evenings and on the weekend. The school did not need power and neither did the grocery store. There was enough milk coming from the cows on the east side of the dome along with enough produce and some meat that outside delivery was not needed. The craft store did have power but was used mainly for sewing clothes. Four of the newcomers were seamstresses. A woodworking shop along with a library had been added when Kara and Elliot were away. The library was the new popular hang out for community members.

When Kara went into work the day of the power outage, she saw the computers had been replaced with typewriters. All of her work had been printed out and placed in a pile on her desk. She spent the day organizing it as much of it were notes and outlines. After work she went to the diner and she listened to the sounds of people talking. They were unhappy with the power outage. The newer group blamed the Venus Park group. If they had cooperated they would have power, they argued. They had all seen what had happened to Holly. They knew how vicious Erie could be but they still worshiped them. She wondered who was really to blame. If one the members did some Erie disapproved of or if Lois had found something or maybe their funding was gone. The only person Kara could think of who was rich enough to fund Erie was Lex Luthor. It made sense. This way aliens were out of the way and it was possible there were other colonies. Cadmus wanted aliens destroyed and so did Lex, but from what her cousin had told her, something like this would satisfy him too.

"Sorry I'm late," Elliot said sitting down at their booth.

"They're blaming us," Kara said taking a bite of her food.

"Erie probably planned this all along," Elliot said, "Just enough power to get us up and running. I'm sure their monitoring us but I think we're on our own."

"No more helping hands- or lack thereof," Kara said, "No more teasing the mice in the study."

"Until someone breaks the rules," Elliot said. The back and forth arguing of whether to try to escape had been constant. Sometimes it was just an exchange of few words over breakfast or dinner. Other times it was full blown arguments. It wouldn't be hard for them to kidnap her and Elliot again. It wouldn't be hard for them to torture everyone. The device that was in her arm had been destroyed and if Elliot was right they were being left to their own devices. They had ensured no one would break curfew with removing the electricity and closing the rec center.

Both Kara and Elliot were home by nine-thirty. Kara showered, grateful they still had running water. She spotted the newspaper on the coffee table. It was a reminder that no one was looking for her and that she couldn't call for help. But that was also her own fault. She could have left with Kal-El. Grabbed Elliot and gone and helped the others here from the outside. Erie would have killed them before they allowed themselves to be caught, Kara reminded herself. Rebellion of any kind would result in some form of punishment, either inside or outside of the community Elliot had said. And he was right. It was time she accept it. Either Kal-El would find them or he wouldn't. Kara threw the paper into the fire and watched it burn to ashes.

 

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Lois asked Clark.

"Cat believes me but there's only so much she can do that won't raise suspicion," Clark said, "And J'onn, James, and Alex won't look for her. You can't because you need to get to Argo soon."

"I can wait a few-"

"Lois, it'll be safer on Argo for you and Cecilia. When they're found I'll come get her."

"You really think Lena, the sister of Lex Luthor is someone you can trust?"

"Kara trusts her."

"But not with her secret. What makes you think she won't turn around and help this organization?"

"I don't. But she's my best chance, she's Kara's best chance. She can help me find her."

"Don't you think we should tell Alura?"

"We know Kara's alive. And she wouldn't want to worry her mother. She's probably afraid Erie will take her too if given the chance. And if she was caught Kara wouldn’t forgive me."

“And you think Alura will be happy her nephew left her daughter in danger?”

“That's why I have to go to Lena. In a few weeks if I can't find her and something happens with this imposter- I'll ask Alura for help.”

 

 


End file.
